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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 






THE EVOLUTION OF WHIST 



THE 



Evolution of Whist 



A STUDY OF THE PROGRESSIVE CHANGES 

WHICH THE GAME HAS PASSED 

THROUGH FROM ITS ORIGIN 

TO THE PRESENT TIME 



r 



WILLIAM POLE, F.R.S. 

MUS. DOC. OXON. 

KNIGHT COMMANDER OF THE IMPERIAL JAPANESE ORDER OF 
THE RISING SUN 

AUTHOR OF 

'THE THEORY OF THE MODERN SCIENTIFIC GAME OF WHIST,' 

"THE PHILOSOPHY OF WHIST," ETC., ETC. 

HONORARY MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN WHIST LEAGUE 




(*!<!%( 



A, 



NEW YORK 
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 

AND LONDON 
1895 






COPYRIGHT, 1894, BY 

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 



TROW DIRECTORY 

PRINTING AND BOOKB'NDINQ COMPANY 

NEW YOKK 



To Henry Jones, Esq. 

My dear Jones : 

In my endeavour to trace out the Evolution of 
Whist, I have found one name prominently be- 
fore me in every stage ; — that of " Cavendisli." 

It is he who, by his industrious investigations, 
has enlightened us as to the fashioning of its em- 
bryonic elements, in the distant and obsaire past, 
while it had only a vague existence. 

It is he who lias pointed out how it flashed 
upon society at its birth, and for a long period 
dazzled the intellect and fashion of Europe. 

It was he who, in its maturity, took the chief 
part in defining and proclaiming its great powers. 

And it is he who, largely by his own efforts, 
has invested its old age with new attractions, 
and spread them over a new world. 

" Cavendish " dedicated his work to the most 
eminent Whist personage then living ; I hope 
you will not think me too presumptuous in doing 
the same. 

Yours very faithfully, 

William Pole. 



/ 



PREFACE 

It is with some diffidence that I have com- 
plied with a request, from several quarters, 
that I would write further about Whist. 
The latest progress in the game has taken 
the form of very elaborate detail in the prac- 
tical Rules ; and I have always preferred to 
leave this branch of the subject in the hands 
of more experienced players, confining my 
own province to considerations of a wider 
range and more general character. 

I have, however, been glad to know that 
this latter course has not been without util- 
ity ; and I venture to think that, in the com- 
plicated maze of practical instruction now 
offered to students, it may be salutary to in- 
terpose some more comprehensive views. 
And I believe that such an object may be 
most usefully attained by a careful scientific 
study of the whole history of the game; not 
as a mere curious collection of dry facts and 
dates, but for the purpose of tracing out the 
principles and motives which have deter- 
mined and guided its progressive changes. 



Vlll PREFACE 

The influence of a philosophical study of 
History on the judgment of current events 
is now well established in literature, and 
there seems no reason why it should not be 
applicable here. The progress of Whist 
proves to be a clear case of gradual Evolu- 
tion, which has never yet been thoroughly 
examined, and this is a want I have endea- 
voured to supply. 

It is impossible to write on historical mat- 
ters without copious references, and I have 
to make many grateful acknowledgments of 
help in this direction. In the first place I 
have to thank Mr. Murray for liberally allow- 
ing me to incorporate in these pages, so far 
as I desired, the article written by me for the 
Quarterly Review of January, 1871, the object 
of that article being somewhat akin to my 
present one, though on a more limited scale. 
Messrs. De la Rue, also, have been good 
enough to give me free permission to make 
extracts from the excellent works published 
by them. 

Then I have to make a special acknowledg- 
ment to the Whist authorities in the United 
States of America. The position which 
modern Whist has taken there is so remark- 
able, that I have thought it right to devote a 
large space to its description and considera- 
tion, and in doing this I have had the kindest 



PREFACE IX 

aid from the Officers of the American Whist 
League. And further, the Editor and the 
proprietors of their official organ, the Mil- 
waukee Whist Journal, have liberally sanc- 
tioned my making free use of any matter 
therein contained, without which, indeed, my 
work would have been impossible. 

And lastly, I must express my special in- 
debtedness to my old friend " Cavendish," 
not only for the references to his valuable 
works, which will be found throughout this 
volume, but for personal assistance in its 
preparation, to an extent which I cannot at- 
tempt to specify. 

W. P. 

London, January, 1895. 



CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTION. 

PAGE 

The love of gaming appears a natural instinct in man ; 
but he has impressed upon it the stamp of his 
great mental powers, i 

Whist is a remarkable example of this ennobling in- 
fluence, and hence its great intellectual attrac- 
tiveness, 2 

It is become both a Science and an Art, and each of 

these requires special study, 3 

The immense variety which has been developed in it, 

out of the most simple means 3 

Even to such an extent as to give rise to different 
kinds of game, all based on one elementary 
skeleton form, 4 

These varieties have been brought about in regular 

sequence, by a gradual process of evolution, . 5 

It is possible to trace distinct stages of progress, ap- 
proximately identified with particular varieties of 
game, 6 

But the later forms, though generally more advanced 
in their character, have not superseded the earlier 
ones, and need not do so, 7 

Parallel cases in the biological world, 7 

The object of this book is to trace the gradual Evolu- 
tion of Whist, and to discuss the aspects which 
it has presented in the different stages of its pro- 
gress, 8 



Xll CONTENTS 

PAGE 

This progress may be approximately divided into four 
Eras. As is generally the case, they overlap, or 
run to a certain extent into each other ; but they 
may each be broadly characterized by a particular 
form of game, 9 

These four Eras, and their corresponding varieties of 
game, will occupy the Four Parts into which the 
present work is divided, 10 

PART I. 

THE PRIMITIVE ERA, 
A.D. 1500 TO 1730. 

Chapter I. 

Early History. 

Whist is of English origin, 13 

The game of " Triumph," quoted by Latimer, ... 14 

" Gammer Gurton's Needle," 15 

Shakespeare, 16 

" Ruff and Honours," 17 

44 Whisk." Taylor, 18 

41 Whist." Cotton, Pope, Johnson, 19 

" Swabbers," 22 

Tricks of Sharpers, 23 

Low Character of the Game, 24 

Thomson's 44 Seasons," 25 

Ombre and Quadrille, 26 

Chapter II. 

The Primitive Game. 

Whist was then played by the lower class of people, . 27 
The kind of game may be identified by wide-spread 

traditions still extant, 27 



CONTENTS Xlll 

PAGE 

Description of the essence or skeleton of Whist, which 

runs unchanged through all forms, 28 

Object of the play, 29 

The means by which this object was attained in the 

Primitive Game, 29 

Tricks made by high or master cards ; or by trump- 
ing, 29 

Some slight consideration given to the partner ; re- 
turning his lead, 30 

Avoidance of leading trumps, 31 

Opportunities for skill, 31 

This game still largely played, 32 



PART II. 

THE ERA OF HOYLE, 
A.D. 1730 TO i860. 

Chapter III. 
History. Hoyle, Payne, and Matthews. 

The Crown Coffee-house Whist Party, 35 

Edmond Hoyle, 36 

His antecedents and education, 36 

His long study of the game, 36 

He resolves to teach it professionally, 37 

Records of this ; the Rambler ; the Gentleman 's 

Magazziie, 37 

Notes given to his pupils, 37 

Afterwards published in a book, 38 

Its great success. Remarkable effect produced on 

Society, 39 

The Humours of Whist, a satire, 39 

A remarkable " coup," 40 



XIV CONTENTS 

TAGE 

Whist admitted at Court, and acknowledged as one of 

the Royal amusements 42 

Whist at the Universities, 42 

Death of Hoyle 43 

Late discoveries of contemporary references to Hoyle 

and his work, 43 

Byron and Homer, 44 

Hoyle's successors, 44 

Payne and his Maxims, 44 

Whist at Bath, 45 

Matthews's Advice to the Young Whist Player, . . 46 
Alexander Thomson's Epic Poem, " Whist," in twelve 

Cantos. Its pretensions to scholarship, ... 47 
Whist in France. Louis XV., Josephine, and Marie 

Louise. The " thinking game," 48 

Talleyrand and his mot, 48 

Deschapelles and his Traite die Whiste, 48 

Whist in Austria. Metternich, 49 

Whist in the London Clubs, 49 

Introduction of " Short Whist." Its true explanation 

and object. Playing to the score, . ' . . . . 49 

Honour Scores 50 

Chapter IV. 
The Hoyle Game. 

Improved modes of considering the Game. New 
Rules given out by the Crown Coffee-house 
party, 52 

New and more intellectual views of the objects, and 

the modes of attaining them, 53 

Different treatment of master cards, 53 

More attention to the relative positions of the cards in 

the four hands, 53 



CONTENTS XV 



PAGE 



The long-suit system, 54 

New ideas about the use of trumps, and the process 

of trumping, 54 

Hoyle's probable mode of illustrating his views, . . 54 
Inferences as to the hands from the " fall of the 

cards," 55 

Hoyle's manner of teaching, by personal instruction 

and examples of play, 56 

Notes or memoranda given to his pupils, which have 

been preserved in his published book, . . » . 56 
Description of the book and its chief contents ; its 

merits and defects, 57 

Modern editions of it, 61 

Payne's Maxims. Their laudable object ; their im- 
proved arrangement and great utility, .... 62 

Some examples of them, 62 

Matthews 's Treatise. Its general arrangement, and 

improved views, 63 

His classification of the processes in the play, ... 64 
His acute perception of the qualities necessary to 

make a good player, 65 

Examples of his teaching, 66 

Attention given by Hoyle and Matthews to the calcu- 
lation of probabilities as affecting Whist play, . 66 

Hoyle's separate book on the subject, 67 

Resulting nature of the Game of Whist as left by 

these three authorities, 67 

Its great merits, as compared with the Primitive 

Game, in an intellectual point of view, .... 68 

Importance attached to personal skill, 68 

Reasons why, in spite of all subsequent improvements, 
the game of Hoyle must always exist, and remain 
to a certain extent popular, 68 



XVI CONTENTS 



PART III. 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL ERA, 
FROM i860 ONWARDS. 

Chapter V. 
History. Cavendish and Clay. 

PAGE 

General nature of this stage of the Evolution, ... 73 
Higher interest in the game, produced by the intro- 
duction of Short Whist, 74 

Whist in the London Clubs. Gradual improve- 
ments, . , 74 

The " Little Whist School " formed at Cambridge and 

continued in London, 75 

Their earnest, scientific, and practical study of the 

game, 75 

The " Portland " Club. James Clay, 75 

Accidental inducement to the publication of some of 
the results of the studies of the Little School, by 

one of their members, yy 

" Cavendish " on Whist, 78 

" Treatise on Short Whist " by James Clay, . ... 78 
Great importance of the improvements described in 
these two works, as the result of years of earnest 

study, by powerful minds, 79 

Further step in the Evolution made by the consolida- 
tion of these improvements into a general Sys- 
tem, 80 

The main feature of this being the combination of the 

hands of the two partners, 80 

" The Theory of W 7 hist," 80 

Attention revived to the calculation of Probabilities, as 
an important element in the structure of the im- 
proved Game, Si 



CONTENTS XVll 

PAGE 

Embodiment of this in " The Philosophy of Whist," . Si 
The principle of the combination of the hands not 

new, having been treated of previously, .... 82 

In France by the General Baron de Vautre, .... 82 
And in Austria by the Ritter Ludwig von Coeckel- 

bergle-Diitzele, 83 

Notices of these two works, 83 

Reasons why the idea did not spread, 86 

Whist in high literature : Frasers Magazine and the 

Quarterly Review, 8j 

Amendment and consolidation of the Laws of Whist, 

under the direction of Mr. J. L. Baldwin, . . . 87 

The American Laws, 89 



Chapter VI. 

The Philosophical Game. 

This is based on the Game of Hoyle, but has the ad- 
vantage of systematic consolidation and reduction 
to Philosophical principles, 90 

Fundamental Principles, and General View of their 
Application. 

Its great feature consists in the more perfect cultiva- 
tion of the relations between the two partners, . 91 

This was brought about by the London Club players 

and the Little Whist School, 92 

With a view to its application each partner must adopt 

the same general treatment of his hand, ... 92 

The long-suit system, 92 

Management of trumps. Leading them. Ruffing and 
forcing, 93 

Play of plain suits, 95 



XV111 CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The consideration of Probabilities. Their calculation ; 
its necessity and utility. Early attention to this 
subject by Hoyle and Matthews. More efficient 

modern cultivation, 95 

The first plain suit lead. Which suit and which card, 97 
Duty of your partner. Return of your suit, .... 99 

Play of second and third hands, 100 

The discard, 100 

Communication between the Partners. 

Great importance of this subject, 100 

Ethical principles ; " Paley's Moral Philosophy," . .101 
Great improvements effected in this stage of the Evo- 
lution, 102 

The chief source of information is by inferences from 
the cards played, as determined by the established 
rules of expediency adopted in playing them, . .103 

Examples, 103 

Inferences from the play of useless or indifferent cards. 

Caution required in playing them, 104 

The play of Sequences. Its great importance from their 
frequent recurrence. Their imperfect treatment in 
former times. Hoyle, Payne, and Matthews, . .105 
Establishment, in this form of game, of more perfect 

rules. " Caelebs " and " Cavendish," . . . .106 

Return of the partner's lead, 108 

Erratic play, 108 

The Philosophical Game in its Educational Aspects. 

Facility with which it lends itself to instruction, . .109 
Difficulties of teaching and learning the simple Hoyle 

game, no 

Contrast with the Philosophical Game, on account of 

its svstematic form, in 



CONTENTS XIX 

PAGE 

Enormous increase in the cultivation of Whist since 

the Philosophical form has been established, . . 1 1 1 

Plan of teaching : postponing complicated details and 
beginning with the most simple elementary rules. 
Example, 112 

Further progress then becomes easy, 114 



PART IV. 

LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS. 

Chapter VII. 

Modern Signalling. The Germ. 

Although the Philosophical Game may be considered 
generally as the most perfect Structural form of 
Whist, the principle of Evolution has still been at 
work on the minor details, 117 

And the changes consequent thereon have attracted 

much attention, particularly in America, . . .117 

They have had reference chiefly to the further im- 
provement of the Communications between the 
Partners, 118 

And although they have only lately assumed great 
prominence, the Germ of them has existed for 
many years, 118 

During the Evolution of the Philosophical Game, there 
was introduced a contrivance called the " Signal 
for Trumps," 119 

Description of it by Clay, and history of its introduc- 
tion, 119 

Its mention by Calebs, 120 

Its original name of the " Blue Peter," alluding to its 

new character as a Signal, 121 



XX CONTENTS 

PAGE 

It gave rise to some objections and to much discus- 
sion. But it has now been almost universally ac- 
cepted and has become an integral part of the 
English Modern Game, 122 

But as bearing on the Evolution of Whist it is 
desirable to examine its theoretical nature more 
closely, 123 

Explanations by Clay and " Cavendish," 124 

It is made clear by them that the signal consists in a 
novel and conventional extension of an old and 
natural mode of play to new circumstances, . .126 

And this small element of novelty has served as a 
germ, from the development of which the latter- 
day stage of progress has largely sprung, . . .127 

The Signal for Trumps is perfectly fair, involving only 
a slight extension of the ethical conditions, which 
is universally agreed to, 128 

And, although some players in an early period thought 
it a disadvantage, it has many features which ap- 
pear advantageous in the large extension of the 
game now prevailing, 129 

Chapter VIII. 
Developments. 

The first important modern " Whist Development " 
was the " Penultimate " lead from a suit of five 
cards, 132 

History of its introduction, 132 

Its origin in the protective play of intermediate se- 
quences ; and its extension to five cards gen- 
erally 132 

This was followed by a proposal from General Dray- 
son to lead the antepenultimate from six cards, . 133 



CONTEXTS XXI 



PAGE 



The next step in the progress came from America, . 133 
Previous spread of Whist in the United States, . . .134 
Mr. Nicholas Browse Trist of New Orleans. His 
communications to the Field and with " Caven- 
dish " on Whist matters, 135 

His proposal to number the card led from the top of 
the hand, instead of from the bottom ; so leading 
the "fourth best " in all cases where a small card 

is required, .' 135 

The real import of this apparently only nominal change, 1 36 
This lead given the name of the " American Lead," . 137 
Further developments suggested by Mr. Trist, . . . 1 37 
By taking advantage of possible variations in the lead 

of " indifferent cards," 137 

Such variations were already in use for trick-making 
purposes in certain cases, and it was proposed to 
extend the plan to other cases for the purpose of 

giving information, 138 

Reasonings in this sense — Consultations with " Caven- 
dish," and final establishment of the complete sys- 
tem of " American Leads," 138 

Publication of Cavendish's work on " Whist Develop- 
ments," ' 139 

The three maxims of American Leads, 140 

Further developments by the same author, . . . .140 
The Echo of the Trump Call ; and the Sn b-ec ho, . .141 
Arrangements for " unblocking," to allow of the free 

14 bringing in " of a long suit, 141 

Revisions and alterations of the old formulas for lead- 
ing high cards, for the purpose of communicating 
information. Suits headed by honours in se- 
quence, etc., etc., 143 

Consequent large increase of the conventional rules 

for leads, 143 



XX11 CONTENTS 

TAGE 

General aspects of Cavendish's work on these develop- 
ments, 144 

His views in regard to the " Conversation of the 

Game/' 145 

Influence of these developments on the general de- 
tails of Whist play, 148 

The results arrived at are not yet final, for the pro- 
gress of Evolution is still going on, 149 

Chapter IX. 

Whist in America. 

The improvements referred to in this stage of Evolu- 
tion have been received with remarkable earnest- 
ness and enthusiasm in the United States of 
America, where indeed they have modelled the 
standard form of game, 150 

Whist Customs, Scoring, etc. 

Forms of scoring differ from those in England, . .151 
Honours are not usually counted at all ; the score is 

made by tricks only, 153 

Practice in social Clubs, single games of 5 points, . .153 
Practice in Whist Clubs, games of 7 points. Straight 

Whist, 154 

In the Whist Club it is not usual to play for money 
stakes, the play being for the love of the game 
alone, 154 

Duplicate Whist. 

This is the most usual form of game in Whist matches, 

trials of skill, etc., 155 

It is a revival, with extensions and improvements, of a 
plan originated by the Little Whist School, in 



CONTENTS XX111 

PAGE 

which the comparative skill of the players may be 
tested, by systematic duplication of the play, 

with reversals of the hands, 155 

Description of the various modifications of the system, 157 
Opinion of " Cavendish" on the American forms of 

play, 160 

The American Whist League. 

Proposal for a Whist Tournament in 1890, which led 

to the formation of the body having this name, . 161 

Constitution and duties of the League, 161 

Establishment of a revised Code of Laws, .... 162 

Annual Congresses, 163 

Arrangements for Whist Matches and Tournaments. 

The " Hamilton Whist Trophy," 165 

Professional Teaching of Whist. 

Revival of this, which had been neglected since the 

days of Hoyle, 166 

The principal teachers are ladies : Miss Kate Wheel- 

ock, Mrs. Jenks, and many others, 167 

Good lady Whist-players abound in the United States, 

and hold their place in the public matches, . .167 

American Whist Literature. 

Establishment of a monthly journal called " Whist," 
as the official organ of the Whist League, and as 
a periodical exclusively devoted to the interests of 

the Game, 168 

Its success, usefulness, and popularity, 169 

Publication of works on Whist, chiefly devoted to the 
explanation of the latest improvements in the 
game, 169 



xxiv CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Foster's " Whist Manual " and " Self-playing Cards ; ■" 

44 Duplicate Whist and Whist Strategy," . . .169 
Fisher Ames, 44 Practical Guide to Whist," .... 169 

C. E. Coffin, " The Gist of Whist," 170 

C. D. P. Hamilton, " Modern Scientific Whist," a very 
elaborate work, profusely illustrated with dia- 
grams, etc. Extracts therefrom, 172 

Popularity of Whist in America. 

Evidences of this are abundant, showing not only the 
wide extent of Whist play, but the earnestness 
and enthusiasm manifested about it, and the gen- 
eral prevalence of high skill in the players, . . .171 

Difficulties and Disputes. 

But the American experience with the Latter-Day 

Whist has not been altogether smooth, . . . .175 

Difficulties and disputes have arisen as to the extended 
use of signals of an arbitrary character between 
the partners, 176 

There has been a tendency to increase the number 
of such signals, with less consideration and 
caution than have been bestowed on them by the 
accepted authorities, 176 

And, what is more serious, a right has been asserted, 
in contriving new signals, to keep them secret be- 
tween the partners, and concealed from the table 
generally, 177 

This subject was brought before the public in a letter 
to the " Whist" Journal in July, 1891, and gave 
rise to long discussions therein, which extended 
to May, 1894, and in which many eminent Whist 
authorities and Whist players both in America 
and in England joined, 177 



COxVTENTS XXV 



PAGE 



Extracts from this correspondence, showing the nat- 
ure of the most important opinions brought for- 
ward, 1 80 

Remarks on the dispute and on the question gener- 
ally, 184 

The ethical view of the proposals made, 185 

The probable effect they would have on the game, . 192 
Doubts as to the advisability of an indefinite and in- 
discriminate multiplication of arbitrary signals, . 193 
Discrimination between the different kinds of signals 

used, 193 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION. 

Restatement of the general views as to the Evolution 
of Whist, and as to the nature of its different 
stages, 199 

Permanence of the different kinds of game, .... 200 

The Primitive Game — Reasons why it will always 

find votaries and players, 200 

But it is not to be recommended for earnest study, . 201 

The Hoyle Game— Reasons which make this form of 
game acceptable to many able players, to the ex- 
clusion of other forms, 201 

But as this game is really embodied in the following 
stage, which is so much more teachable, it ought 
not to be chosen for the commencement of Whist 
study, 203 

The Philosophical Game, — This is the form of game 
to which the attention of students should be 
most prominently directed, 204 

Study of principles first, and then of published ex- 
amples, introductory to your own practice, which 
will enable you in time to pass for a sound player, 205 



XXVI CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Beyond this will come the exercise of your own per- 
sonal skill and mental powers, manifested in 
observation, inference, memory, promptness of 
action, soundness in judgment, and possibly 
brilliancy of invention, by which you may become 
2ifi?ie player, 206 

Errors are unavoidable ; classification and judgment 

of them, 210 

When high skill cannot be commanded, a good know- 
ledge of systematic principles may always be 
attained, and will always be useful, 211 

The Latter-Day I?nfirovements — Although this latest 
and most elaborate phase of Whist Evolution has 
been taken up so enthusiastically in America, it 
has not yet become fully popular in England, .212 

But there is abundant evidence that its development 
has been watched with much interest and with 
some favour, many of its earlier elements having 
passed into common use, 213 

Speculative reasons for the hesitation ; the national 

conservative feeling, 213 

The difficulty of acquirement of the elaborate new 

rules, 214 

The way in which the increased preponderance of skill 

may affect the present system of money stakes, . 214 

The deterrent effect of the difficulties that have lately 

arisen in America ; and so on, 215 

Suggestions for the more general cultivation of the 
new introductions, 215 



CONTENTS XXV11 

APENDICES. 
A. 

Some Model Whist Hands of Early Date, 

PAGE 

1743. From the " Humours of Whist," containing 

a coup, by Hoyle, 219 

1755. From " The Connoisseur," 224 

1 79 1. From "Whist," an Epic Poem in twelve Cantos, 229 

- 

B. 

Constitution of the American Whist League, . . .226 

C. 

The America7i Laws of Whist, 246 

D. 

1. Description of the Match for the Hamilton Whist 

Trophy ; by Duplicate Whist, 257 

2. Personal Match, by Duplicate Whist, between nine 

ladies and nine gentlemen, 263 



THE EVOLUTION OF WHIST 



INTRODUCTION 

" It has been found hard," said Dr. John- 
son, " to describe man by an adequate defini- 
tion. " The term " reasoning animal," is ob- 
jected to because so many of his race do not 
reason, while so many of his " poor earth- 
born companions " do. In default of more 
refined psychological distinctions, reference 
has been made to certain habits which ap- 
pear to have spontaneously developed them- 
selves in his nature. Thus he has been called 
a cooking animal ; a laughing animal ; a 
clothes-wearing animal ; a tool-making ani- 
mal ; and, more recently, a gambling animal. 

There is nothing very striking in these defi- 
nitions, and many more might be discovered 
with a little ingenuity ; but it is remarkable 
how man has contrived to impress upon all 
such innate habits the stamp of his high in- 
tellectual powers. Cooking, for example, 
has been exalted by the " Physiologie du 
Gout " and " The Original " into an aesthetic 



2 THE EVOLUTION OF WHIST 

study ; merriment and wisdom are prover- 
bially connected ; the " Sartor Resartus " will 
illustrate the philosophy of clothes; the pow- 
ers of intellect devoted to tools during the 
last century have revolutionized the world ; 
and in regard to the last and least promising 
of our list, even the gambling propensity has 
been elevated by the invention and general 
adoption of games combining chance and 
skill, in which the excitement of hazard is 
tempered by the more wholesome interest of 
the intellectual exercise. Such games have 
varied much from time to time, and, as civil- 
ization has advanced, have gradually im- 
proved in character and attractiveness, till 
they have culminated in the noble game of 
Whist, which, as now practised, after nearly 
three centuries of elaboration, stands unri- 
valled at the head of all in-door recreations. 

It has now become a favourite amusement 
in all ranks of society, and especially with 
persons of great intelligence and ability. It 
is differentiated from all other card games 
by the demands it makes on the intel- 
lectual powers, and the opportunity it gives 
for high mental skill ; indeed a great man 
once said that in choosing a Prime Min- 
ister, his Whist playing would offer a suffi- 
cient test of his competency. But Whist 
is not exclusively a study for great minds ; 



INTRODUCTION 3 

it is so catholic in its nature that ordi- 
nary intellects can find pleasure in its prac- 
tice. In social circles it is becoming con- 
stantly better known, and its value better 
appreciated, although the general style of 
play is not always so intellectual as it might 
be. 

Whist is both a Science and an Art. It is a 
Science, because its foundations are laid on 
truly scientific principles ; on the mathemati- 
cal laws of probabilities, and on strictly 
scientific reasoning directing their applica- 
tion. It is an Art, because it requires educa- 
tion, practice, judgment, and skill, in the 
actual conduct of the play. In this, as in 
many other intellectual pursuits, it is only by 
a combination of the two that eminence can 
be obtained. Hence, both must be learned : 
the science, to enable the student to under- 
stand the principles on which he has to pro- 
ceed ; and the art, to direct him how to carry 
these principles into effect to the best advan- 
tage. 

The most astonishing feature of Whist is 
the immense variety that may arise out of 
a very simple elementary structure. It is 
really one of the simplest card games known, 
consisting merely in " making tricks " ac- 
cording to certain conditions which a child 



4 THE EVOLUTION OF WHIST 

may learn in a few minutes. And yet how 
to do this in the most advantageous way is a 
problem that has occupied the most powerful 
minds for centuries. And it is not only that 
the mode of procedure is subject to almost 
infinite variations of individual volition, but 
there have been, from time to time, while 
still adhering to the same elementary skeleton 
of game, remarkable varieties, not only in the 
details but in the general forms. Different 
modes of procedure have been laid down, 
and different sets of rules have been recom- 
mended for the guidance of players, all vary- 
ing so much as to constitute what may be 
described as different phases of the game, 
each having peculiarities of its own, worthy 
of attention and stud}\ 

This great variety of complex structures, 
built on one underlying skeleton, cannot fail 
to remind us of similar productions in the 
world of nature, where we may often find 
some great general fundamental feature, 
such, for example, as the vertebrate prin- 
ciple, extending through a multitude of ani- 
mate forms all largely differing from each 
other. And when this idea is once enter- 
tained it suggests further analogies. Cannot 
we also see, in the history of Whist, traces of 
that wonderful element, Evolution, which 
modern discoverers have proved to be the 



INTRODUCTION 5 

great source of progressive change in all 
organic nature? 

We certainly can, for it is impossible to 
study carefully the history of the game with- 
out perceiving that its varieties have, for the 
most part, not been arbitrary changes. They 
have clearly, in conformity with this univer- 
sal law, resulted from a gradual progress, or 
development, in the intellectual character of 
the game, and in the complexity of its vary- 
ing forms. In the earliest stage it was a very 
simple matter, easily understood and easily 
practised ; then, as its capabilities began to 
be discovered, more advanced varieties came 
in, and these became more and more com- 
plex, adapted to more and more intellectual 
skill, until at last they have culminated in the 
present elaborate development, which is one 
of the most striking features of the time, if 
only on account of the enthusiasm with which 
it is cultivated by the highest class of players. 

Now this view of the gradual development 
of Whist, from its earliest inception to its 
present elaborate form, deserves more care- 
ful attention than it has yet received. Its 
true interest consists, not merely in lists of 
dry facts and dates, but rather in the con- 
sideration of the nature and import of the 
changes that have taken place ; and this point 



6 THE EVOLUTION OF WHIST 

has received but little study or description. 
The reason for this neglect is the general as- 
sumption that any advance or improvement 
justifies the oblivion of what has gone be- 
fore. Any proficient who has made himself 
master of an improved style of game is ac- 
customed to despise as useless and uninter- 
esting the earlier forms. Charles Lamb, for 
example, playing the Hoyle game of Mrs. 
Battle, characterized the more primitive 
practice as " sick Whist," and a little later we 
find the " modern scientific " experts despis- 
ing the antiquated game of Charles Lamb. 
And such has been the progress of Whist 
Evolution in the last two decades that a mem- 
ber of the present American League would 
look down even on the fine playing of Des- 
chapelles or Clay. 

We are arriving, now, at a degree of elabo- 
ration which gives us pause. The improved 
game has been taken up, as we shall see 
hereafter, earnestly and enthusiastically by 
numbers of connoiseurs, of high intellectual 
ability, who have devoted themselves to its 
cultivation ; but whatever its merits may be, 
it would be too much to assume that it forms 
the only kind of game which will be or ought 
to be played. Clay has remarked very per- 
tinently, that an increased call upon the skill 
required limits considerably the number of 



INTRODUCTION 7 

players, and it would be a reproach on the 
merits of Whist, and on the universality of 
its pleasure-giving power, if its practice were 
confined to the comparatively small public 
who could master its more modern intricacies 
and complications. It is desirable, therefore, 
to consider our position ; and we believe our 
policy should lie, not (as some would have it) 
in discouraging the march of Evolution, or in 
depreciating the value of its results ; but in 
contesting the exclusiveness with which the 
idea of it is associated. 

In the great evolutionary systems of nat- 
ure the production of higher forms does not 
necessitate the extinction of the antecedent 
ones. Many still live and flourish contem- 
poraneously with their advanced progeny. 
Although man may have been evolved from 
some Simian ancestor, and may be vastly su- 
perior to him, yet they may both exist to- 
gether, and each will find for himself a suitable 
place in the world. And so with Whist, with- 
out doubting the reality of the advance, or the 
intellectual superiority of the higher inven- 
tions, it does not follow that they need abol- 
ish the preceding lower ones, or that they 
ought to do so. 

Indeed, the question has settled itself. As 
a matter of fact, in the present day an enor- 
mous number of persons, who take pleasure in 



8 THE EVOLUTION OF WHIST 

playing Whist, still adopt actually its most 
primitive forms. And why should they not, 
if they find such forms the most suitable for 
them ? The amiable lady who begins by 
playing out her aces, or the pleasant club 
member who leads his lowest card from five, 
ought not to be upbraided for bad play. All 
that should be said is that they play varieties 
of the game differing from that recommended 
in "Cavendish's" latest editions. We may 
take it for granted that, whatever ma)' be the 
exclusive notions of the select Whist aristoc- 
racy, there will always be a large democratic 
body who will please themselves as to what 
sort of game they play. And we may, there- 
fore, as well meet this inevitable fact boldly. 

These considerations suggest a new object 
for an Essay upon Whist. The usual aim of 
a Whist book is to describe a particular kind 
of game, which its author believes is the only 
true one ; to lay down its principles, and to 
give the reader practical directions how to 
carry them out in his play. This is not the 
object aimed at here. We propose to take 
a broader survey of Whist in general, to in- 
vestigate its history, and to trace its grad- 
ual development, showing the different as- 
pects it has presented, and the different 
ways it has been treated from time to time. 



INTRODUCTION 9 

In this way, while observing the process of 
Evolution, by which, under the constant effort 
of powerful minds it has reached its present 
advanced stage, we shall not lose sight of the 
nature of its intermediate forms. 

The steps or phases of progress in Whist 
structure will of course be most naturally in- 
dicated by the varieties of game prevalent at 
different times. The definitions of these, and 
the determination of their history and com- 
parative age, are not always easy ; for, as in 
all cases of evolutionary development, we 
find the various stages run into one another. 
Looking, however, broadly at the facts of his- 
tory we may clearly identify four great va- 
rieties, prevailing at moderately well-defined 
times, and it is proposed to treat of these in 
four divisions of the present work. 

We may first notice the primitive stage of 
Whist, occupying a long era from the origin 
of the game to the date immediately preced- 
ing Hoyle ; and we may characterize the 
simple structure that prevailed during this 
era as The Primitive Game. 

The next stage begins at the date when 
Whist was raised into a really intellectual 
pastime under the master mind of Hoyle, 
who was well followed in the same path by 
Payne and Matthews. We have, therefore, 
the opportunity of showing how The Game 



IO THE EVOLUTION OF WHIST 

OF Hoyle differed from its antecedent form. 
The era of this game, unchanged, lasted for 
more than a century. 

In process of time, however, the game of 
Hoyle was, by the further study of many 
clever experts, represented chiefly by " Cav- 
endish " and James Clay, consolidated into a 
more settled and definite system, on a strict- 
ly logical and philosophical basis, forming 
what is termed The Philosophical Game. 

The era of this last-named form extends to 
the present time, for the game remains, essen- 
tially, in its leading principles the same. 
But it has been subject in recent years to 
development in its details, so remarkable as 
to have attracted largely the attention of 
high-class Whist players, particularly in the 
United States of America. This develop- 
ment must therefore be considered as an im- 
portant step in the Evolution of Whist, and 
will be treated of in our Part IV. 



PART I 
THE PRIMITIVE ERA 

A.D. 1500 TO 1730 



CHAPTER I 

EARLY HISTORY 

In this chapter it is proposed to give a 
brief notice of the chief facts known as to 
the origin and early history of Whist, lead- 
ing to what we have designated as the Prim- 
itive Game. ! 

Whist is of English origin, but its early his- 
tory is involved in some obscurity. It is not 
to be supposed that a game of this high char- 
acter should have sprung at once perfect into 
being ; it has been formed by gradual devel- 
opment from elements previously existing. 
When these began to assume shapes akin to 
what we know now, the " fittest " of them 
"survived " and became, in process of time, 
moulded into the present forms. 

As early as the beginning of the sixteenth 

1 The information we possess as to the early history of Whist is 
chiefly due to the investigations of " Cavendish." The historical 
notices contained in this and some following chapters are taken 
largely (with some later corrections) from an article, by the author 
of the present work, in the Quarterly Review of January, 1871, the 
use of which has been kindly sanctioned by the publishers of that 
periodical. 



14 THE PRIMITIVE ERA 

century a card game was in common use in 
England, of which both the name and the 
chief feature enter prominently into the 
structure of Whist. This was called triumph 
— corrupted into trump — and the essence of 
it was the predominance of one particular 
suit, called the triumph, or trump-suit, over 
all the others. A work published in Italy in 
1526 speaks of a game called Trionfi, which 
is also mentioned by Rabelais as La Tri- 
omphe, among the games played by Gargan- 
tua ; but this, which resembled Ecarte, must 
not be confounded with the English game. 
The latter was, in all probability, distinctly 
of English origin, and was popular in good 
society, as we find a reference to it in a quar- 
ter where it would hardly be looked for ; 
namely, in a sermon preached by Latimer 
at Cambridge, the Sunday before Christmas, 
1529. He mentions the game under its cor- 
rupted as well as its original appellation, and 
clearly alludes to its characteristic feature, 
as the following extracts will show : 

" And where you are wont to celebrate Christmas in 
playing at cards, I intend, by God's grace, to deal unto 
you Christ's Cards, wherein you shall perceive Christ's 
Rule. The game that we play at shall be called the 
Triumph, which, if it be well played at, he that dealeth 
shall win ; the Players shall likewise win ; and the standers 
and lookers upon shall do the same. 



EARLY HISTORY I 5 

M You must mark also that the Triumph must apply to 
fetch home unto him all the other cards, whatever suit they 
be of. 

" Then further, we must say to ourselves, What re- 
quireth Christ of a Christian man ? Now turn up your 
Trump, your Heart (Hearts is Trump, as I said before), 
and cast your Trump, your Heart, on this card." 

Other references to this game are found at 
a later period ; we need only mention two. 
In " Gammer Gurton's Needle," one of the 
earliest pieces performed in England under 
the name of a comedy, and written by Bishop 
Still, soon after the middle of the sixteenth 
century, occurs this passage: 

"Chat. — What, Diccon? come nere, ye be no stranger ; 
We be set fast at trump, man, hard by the fyre. 
Thou shalt set on the King, if thou come a little 
nyer. 

Come hither, Dol ; Dol, sit downe and play this 
game, 

And as thou sawest me do, see thou do even the 
same ; 

There is five trumps besides the queene, the hind- 
most thou shalt find her ; 

Take hede of Sim Glover's wife, she hath an eie 
behind her." 

Another reference is by Shakespeare. In 
"Antony and Cleopatra," Act IV., Scene 12, 
Antony says (folio, 1623) : 



l6 THE PRIMITIVE ERA 

" My good Knaue Eros, now thy captaine is 
Euen such a body ; Heere I am Anthony, 
Yet cannot hold this visible shape (my Knaue) 
I made those warres for Egypt, and the Queene, 
Whose heart I thought I had, for she had mine, 
Which whil'st it was mine, had annext untoo't 
A Million moe, (now lost,) shee Eros has 
Packt Cards with Csesar, and false plaid my Glory 
Vnto an Enemies triumph." 

This passage has been the subject of several 
comments ; but the repeated allusions to card- 
playing leave no doubt as to the reference in 
the last word. 

About the beginning of the seventeenth 
century the game of Trump had acquired in 
England another name, which is also pre- 
served in Whist ; i.e., Ruff. There is no in- 
formation how this word came to be used ; 
we only know that the two terms were sy- 
nonymous, as Cotgrave, in his French and 
English Dictionary, 161 1, explains the French 
word triomphe to mean " the card game called 
ruffe, or trump ;" and Nares, in his Glossary, 
says ruff meant a trump card, chart a domin- 
atrix. 

But contemporaneously with this the game 
itself had also undergone, in England, some 
modifications which caused it to differ ma- 
terially from the original type, and among 
them was the attachment of certain advan- 



EARLY HISTORY 1 7 

tages, or " honours/' to the four highest cards 
of the trump suit. This was probably of 
itself an ancient invention, for we find a 
game called u Les Honeurs " in Rabelais's 
list ; but whether the honours were imported 
into Trump or Ruff, and so gave the game a 
new character, or whether they were an 
original part of the game, we have not evi- 
dence enough to decide. At any rate, the 
game was called " Ruff and Honours." 

It was played with a pack of fifty-two 
cards, the ace ranking the highest. There 
were four players, two being partners 
against the other two, and each received 
twelve cards ; the remaining four were left 
as a " stock " on the table, and the top one 
was turned up to determine the trump suit. 
The player who happened to hold the ace 
of trumps had the privilege of taking the 
" stock," in exchange for four cards of his 
own, an operation called ruffing. The score 
was nine, and the party that won most tricks 
were " most forward to win the set." Three 
honours in the joint hands were reckoned 
equivalent to two tricks, and four honours to 
four. This came very near Whist, and was, 
in fact, Whist in an imperfect form. 

The further changes in the constitution of 
the game, and the radical alteration of the 

2 



l8 THE PRIMITIVE ERA 

name, appear to have taken place early in 
the seventeenth century. The first form of 
the new designation was Whisk, a word which 
occurs in " Taylor's Motto," by Taylor, the 
water poet, published in 1621. Speaking of 
the prodigal, he says : 

" He flings his money free with carelessnesse, 
At novum, mumchance, mischance (chuse ye which) 
At one-and-thirty, or at poore-and-rich, 
Ruffe, slam, trump, nody, whisk, hole, sant, new cut." 

The origin of the word is obscure ; but it 
has been suggested that it was used as a 
synonym for raff, in ridicule of the affecta- 
tions of the gallants who played at the game. 
The article of dress in fashion under the lat- 
ter name at the time is descrbed as — 

" Great and monsterous, made either of cambric, holland, 
lawne, or els of some other the finest cloth that can be got 
for money, whereof some is a quarter of a yard deepe, yea, 
some more, hanging over their shoulder points, instead of 
a vaile. But if ^Eolus with his blasts, or Neptune with 
his storms, chaunce to hit upon the crazie barke of their 
bruised ruffles, then they goeth flip-flap in the winde, like 
ragges that flew abroad, lying on their shoulders like the 
disheclout of a slut." 

This sort of thing might well be ridiculed 
as a Whisk, which not only meant " a small 



EARLY HISTORY 19 

besom or brush," but also referred to an ar- 
ticle of dress : 

" Their wrinkled necks were covered o'er 
With whisks of lawn, by grannums wore 
In base contempt of bishops' sleeves." 

Thirty or forty years after Taylor's men- 
tion of the word as applied to the game, it 
had become changed to the present form, the 
earliest known use of which is quoted by 
Johnson from the second part of " Hudibras " 
(spurious), published in 1663 : 

" But what was this ? A game of Whist 
Unto our Plowden-Canonist." 

In the opinion of the best modern etymol- 
ogists the original spelling of " Whisk " or 
" Whist " is of no consequence as regards 
the derivation of the word ; the latest view 
of the highest authorities is that it is of imi- 
tative origin, and means " silence/' a view 
which also prevailed in earlier times, as will 
be seen further on. 

In 1674 we find a published description 
of the game in a curious book, by Charles 
Cotton, the poet, entitled, " The Compleat 
Gamester, or Instructions how to play at 
Billiards, Trucks, Bowls, and Chess, to- 
gether with all manner of usual and most 



20 THE PRIMITIVE ERA 

gentle Games, either on Cards or Dice." In 
this book a chapter is devoted to " English 
Ruff-and-Honours and Whist," and it con- 
tains the following passage : 

" Ruff and honours (alias slamm) and Whist are games 
so commonly known in England, in all parts thereof, that 
every child almost of eight years old hath a competent 
knowledge in that recreation." 

After describing ruff and honours, the au- 
thor says : " Whist is a game not much dif- 
fering from this." Each player still had 
twelve cards; but instead of leaving an un- 
known stock on the table, the four deuces 
were discarded from the pack before deal- 
ing. The abolition of the unknown " stock " 
was a great step in advance, as it enabled 
the players to calculate with more certainty 
the contents of each other's hands. The 
score was still nine, tricks and honours 
counting as before. 

Cotton says the game " is called Whist 
from the silence that is to be observed in the 
play." This meaning is warranted by the 
custom of the time. The word, although 
treated as a verb, adjective, or participle, by 
Shakespeare, Milton, Spenser, and others, is 
defined by Skinner (1671), one of the best 
authorities, as interjectio silent iuni imperans ; 
and so it was commonly used. In an old 



EARLY HISTORY 21 

play, written by Decker in 1604, we find the 
example : 

" Whist ! Whist ! my master ! " 

Cotton's derivation of the present name 
has been supported by Johnson and Nares, 
and has always been most commonly re- 
ceived ; but it must not be forgotten that the 
word Whisk continued in use, along with the 
other name, for a century after Cotton wrote. 
Pope, in his epistle to Mrs. Teresa Blount, 
1715, says: 

" Some squire perhaps, you take delight to rack, 
Whose game is Whisk, whose treat a toast in sack." 

Dr. Johnson defines Whist as " A game at 
cards, requiring close attention and silence ; 
vulgarly pronounced Whisk." And he points 
out the many ways in which the word Whist 
is used, conveying the sense above given. 

The Hon. Daines Barrington, writing as 
late as 1786 on games at cards, uses the word 
Whisk without any qualification. 

It is possible that, when the game took its 
complete form, the more intellectual char- 
acter it assumed demanded greater care and 
closer attention to the play ; this was incom- 
patible with noise in the room, or with con- 
versation between the players ; and hence 
the word " Whist ! " may have been used in 



22 THE PRIMITIVE ERA 

its interjectional form to insist on the neces- 
sary silence ; and from the similarity of this 
to the term already in use, the modification in 
the last letter may have taken its rise. It is 
worthy of remark that in a fashionable book 
on Ombre, published in Berlin in 1714, the 
writer, who had probably never heard of the 
English game, says: " Pour bien jouer l'om- 
bre, il faut du silence et de la tranquillite." 

But whatever may be the views held in 
this country as to the origin of the name of 
our national card-game, it is only fair to our 
ingenious neighbours across the Channel to 
give their explanation, which we find in a 
French work on Whist : 

"At a time when French was the current language in 
England, the people had become so infatuated with one 
of their games at cards that it was prohibited after a cer- 
tain hour. But parties met clandestinely to practise it ; 
and when the question, ' Voulez-vous jouer ? ' was an- 
swered by ' Oui ! ' the master of the room added the in- 
terjection, ' St ! ' to impose silence. This occurred so 
often that ' Oui-st,' became at length the current appella- 
tion of the game ! " 

With these names there came to be asso- 
ciated another of a very strange character ; 
namely, " swabbers " or " swobbers." Field- 
ing, for example, in the account of Jonathan 
Wild's detention in the spunging-house in 
London, in 1682, says: "Whisk and swab- 



EARLY HISTORY 23 

bers was the game then in the chief vogue. " 
Swift, in his " Essay on the Fates of Clergy- 
men/' ridicules Archbishop Tenison, who 
was said to be a dull man, for misunder- 
standing the term. He relates a known 
story of a clergyman who was recommended 
to the Archbishop for preferment, when his 
Grace said : " He had heard that the clergy- 
man used to play at Whist and swobbers ; that 
as to playing now and then a sober game at 
Whist for pastime, it might be pardoned, but 
he could not digest those wicked swobbers." 
" It was with some pains," added the Dean, 
" that my Lord Somers could undeceive 
him." Johnson quotes the pretended speech 
of the Archbishop, and defines swabbers as 
" four privileged cards, which are only inci- 
dentally used for betting at Whist." The 
additional term was of limited application, 
and soon went out of use. 

It is curious that although the precursors 
of Whist had enjoyed favour in high places, 
yet Whist itself in its infancy was chiefly 
played in low society, where cheats and sharp- 
ers assembled. A considerable part of Cot- 
ton's chapter is devoted to a warning against 
the tricks and frauds of these gentry. He 
alludes to the " arts used in dealing," and 
shows how, by ingenious devices, " cunning 



24 THE PRIMITIVE ERA 

fellows about this city may not only know all 
the cards by their backs, but may turn up 
honours for themselves, and avoid doing so 
for their adversaries." The following pas- 
sage gives some significant hints : 

" He that can by craft overlook his adversaries' game hath 
a great advantage, for by that means he may partly know 
what to play securely. There is a way to discover to their 
partners what honours they have ; as by the wink of one 
eye, or putting one finger on the nose or table, it signifies 
one honour ; shutting both the eyes, two ; placing three 
ringers or four on the table, three or four honours." 

In a republication of Cotton's work by 
Seymour, in 1734, these cautions are ampli- 
fied, showing that Whist still retained the 
same low character. The editor says : " As 
Whisk (he uses the old appellation) is a tav- 
ern game, the sharpers generally take care to 
push about the bottle before the game be- 
gins." A special chapter is given to " Piping 
at Whisk," and as this is an accomplishment 
not generally known at the modern Clubs, 
the following extract may be interesting : 

" By piping I mean when one of the company that does 
not play (which frequently happens) sits down in a con- 
venient place to smoke a pipe and so look on, pretending 
to amuse himself that way. Now the disposing of his fingers 
on the pipe, whilst smoking, discovers the principal cards 
that are in the person's hand he overlooks, which was 
always esteemed a sufficient advantage to win a game. 



EARLY HISTORY 25 

This may also be done by another way, i.e., by common 
conversation. ' Indeed,' signifies diamonds ; ' truly,' hearts ; 
' upon my word,' clubs ; ' I assure you,' spades." 

It is only fair to add that with the bane the 
editor supplies also the antidote. He says : 
" For which reasons all nice gamesters play be- 
hind curtains." 

A book called " Annals of Gaming/' of 
about the same date, says : " There are sev- 
eral other barefaced practices made use of, 
such as looking over hands, changing cards 
under the table, and often from off the table ; 
but these are generally made use of by 
women, who, when detected, laugh it off, 
without any sense of shame or dishonour." 

There is other evidence of the low charac- 
ter of Whist. Fielding and Pope, as we have 
seen, both speak of it disparagingly, and 
Thomson, in his " Autumn " (1730), describes 
how, after a heavy hunt dinner, 

" Whist awhile 
Walks his dull round beneath a cloud of smoke, 
Wreath'd fragrant from the pipe." 

This being, he adds, one of the " puling idle- 
nesses " introduced to cheat the thirsty mo- 
ments until the party do something more 
noble, i.e. : 

" Close in firm circle, and set, ardent, in 
For serious drinking." 



26 THE PRIMITIVE ERA 

In the early part of the eighteenth century- 
there was a mania for card-playing in all 
parts of Europe, and in all classes of so- 
ciety ; but in the best circles Whist was un- 
known, or at least ignored. Gentlemen in 
their gaming coteries practised Piquet (a fine 
and very old game, said to have been invent- 
ed in France in the fifteenth century) ; and in 
ladies' society the most fashionable amuse- 
ment was Ombre, immortalized by Pope's 
" Rape of the Lock" (1712) in a manner 
strongly contrasted with his disparaging 
mention of Whist a year or two later. 

There was also a curious and very meritori- 
ous adaptation of Ombre for four players, 
called Quadrille, This was fashionable, and 
much played ; it formed a kind of intermedi- 
ate between Ombre and Whist, and it was 
probably a favourite game at the time when 
Whist suddenly sprang into notoriety. 



CHAPTER II 

THE PRIMITIVE GAME 

The above history brings us to the begin- 
ning of the eighteenth century, and as Whist, 
although not then a fashionable game, must 
have been a good deal played by the com- 
mon class of people, one may be curious to 
know what the play was like. Unfortunate- 
ly there is no direct information about this, 
but we may find, even at the present day, 
a species of game in existence, of a very sim- 
ple kind, which has been clearly derived 
from oral traditions widely spread, and 
doubtless of great antiquity. There is there- 
fore reason to believe that this form of game 
must represent the handing - down of the 
rudest practice in the infancy of Whist. We 
have paid some attention to it, and find it 
still played largely in domestic circles. It 
is founded on the most primitive ideas of 
what should be done, as can easily be shown. 

The essence of the game of Whist, which 
runs unchanged through all its varieties of 



28 THE PRIMITIVE ERA 

form, is exceedingly simple. There are four 
players, sitting round a table in positions 
which the Americans conveniently describe 
as North, South, East, and West ; North and 
South forming a partnership against a similar 
partnership of East and West. We may 
then quote a description of the play from 
Brande's " Dictionary of Science, Literature 
and Art : " 

" The cards are dealt round, thirteen to each player, the 
last, or bottom one, belonging to the dealer, being turned 
up or shewn ; the suit to which this belongs is then 
called the trump suit, and takes preference of all the others 
(this being the oldest or ' triumph ' feature of the game). 
The others are called ' plain suits.' 

" The player to the left of the dealer then plays a card, to 
which the other players in succession must follow suit, 
i.e., play cards of the same suit, if they have them. These 
four cards constitute a trick, which is won by the person 
who plays the highest card, and is picked up by the winner 
or his partner. The winner of this then leads, or com- 
mences a new trick, and so on till the whole thirteen are 
played. 

11 When a player cannot follow suit, i.e., has no card of 
the suit led, he may, if a plain suit is led, either play a 
trump, which wins the trick by the precedence of the suit, 
or may discard a card of some other suit." 

The partnership couple who win most 
tricks have the advantage, which may be 
" scored " in several different ways, accord- 
ing to the custom or agreement prevalent 



THE PRIMITIVE GAME 29 

among the players. According to the sys- 
tem most common in England, all tricks 
above six count towards "game," a fortui- 
tous addition being made for the accidental 
possession of " honours." 

The whole object of the play, therefore, is 
to win tricks, and this may obviously be 
done in two ways ; either 

1. By the predominance of high cards in 
the suit led, or 

2. By trumping. 

Suppose, now, a person to come fresh to 
the game, not having considered its intri- 
cacies at all. His first impulse will be to di- 
rect his attention to the chance of making 
tricks by high cards; and when he looks at 
his hand he will notice what high cards he 
has in it. If he holds an ace, for example, he 
will be tempted to lead it when he has the 
lead, or to play it when the suit is led by 
some one else, and so endeavour to secure a 
trick with it as early as possible. And simi- 
larly if he holds the king, when the ace has 
already been played. And if he holds several 
such " master cards," he will play them out 
successively when he gets the chance. 

If, having nothing of this simple kind to 
do, he holds a king, the ace of the suit being 



30 THE PRIMITIVE ERA 

still unplayed, he will probably be tempted 
to lead a small card of that suit, in the hope 
that it may somehow bring out the ace, and 
so make his king good. Or, if he has the 
queen, he may attempt the same policy, bui 
with less hopefulness. 

But he will also not be unmindful of the 
other method of making tricks, namely, by 
trumping. If, therefore, as sometimes hap- 
pens, he is originally short of one plain suit, 
he will watch for that suit being led, and will 
gladly put a small trump upon it. And if he 
happens to have a tolerably large number of 
trumps, he will be the more ready to seize 
upon, what appears to him, this profitable 
manner of using them. 

If, as is more frequently the case, he holds 
one card only of a plain suit (called a " single- 
ton "), he may, when he gets the lead, lead 
that card out, in the hope that he may be 
able to trump the suit when it comes round 
again. 

He will also acquire, either by his own in- 
tuition or by some vague kind of tradition or 
instruction, the idea that he has some con- 
sideration to give to his partner, whose in- 
terests are bound up with his own ; and that 
this consideration is manifested by " return- 
ing his partner s lead." This principle will 
be suggested to him by his own play. For 



THE PRIMITIVE GAME 3 1 

example, if he leads from a king, and succeeds 
thereby in bringing the ace out, he will be 
glad for his partner to return that suit to 
him that he may make his king. Or, if he 
leads a singleton, he will wish his partner 
to return that suit for him to trump. Thus 
the mutual return of the lead becomes a 
great feature of this primitive game, and 
may often save the player from the dis- 
agreeable necessity of scheming, in the dark, 
a new lead of his own. 

He will also, in accordance with the " trump- 
ing" principle, carefully abstain from leading 
trumps, so checking the power of his partner 
to make tricks by their use. 

Beyond the above-mentioned simple ex- 
pedients, the player of this game has no idea 
of value in his cards generally, and he is 
consequently quite careless in the play of 
such as are not wanted for immediate trick- 
making. He will naturally " follow suit" 
when required, but is not particular which, 
of several low cards, he may use for the pur- 
pose. All these minor matters are a blank to 
him. 

But it must not be supposed, from the 
simplicity of these rules, that no skill is re- 
quired in the play. The player has to watch 
for and to recollect the fall of the highest 
cards of a suit, that he may know when he 



32 THE PRIMITIVE ERA 

is left with the best of it, and may play it 
accordingly. He has also to recollect his 
partner's lead, and particularly to mark 
when he is short of a suit, so as to lose no 
opportunity of leading it for him. 

Primitive and unpretentious as this sort 
of game is, it is played by enormous num- 
bers of domestic players, who find incidents 
enough in it to amuse them for hours to- 
gether. And though many of them would 
doubtless be able to learn and to enjoy a 
more intellectual form, there is no reason 
why it should be thrust upon them, or why 
they should be calumniated for adhering to 
their innocent form of entertainment. It is 
probable that they follow fairly the general 
mode of play in the infancy of the game. 



PART II 
THE ERA OF HOYLE 

A.D. 173O TO i860 



CHAPTER III 

HISTORY 
HOYLE, PAYNE, AND MATTHEWS 

It has been necessary to show, in our First 
Chapter, the low state of Whist in its primi- 
tive stage, both in social rank and in style 
of play, in order to bring out more promi- 
nently the fact of its sudden elevation to 
fame and honour, and the great merit of the 
man to whom this elevation was due. 

About 1730 the " ordinaries,'' where gam- 
bling had been long carried on to an enormous 
extent, and with the most scandalous abuses, 
began to be superseded by the more intellect- 
ual meetings at taverns and coffee-houses, 
which figure so prominently in the literary 
annals of the last century. It happened that 
a party of gentlemen who frequented the 
Crown Coffee-house in Bedford Row, and of 
whom the first Lord Folkestone was one, 
had become acquainted with the game, and, 
in defiance of its bad reputation, tried it at 
their meetings. They soon found out it had 



36 THE ERA OF HOYLE 

merits. They studied it carefully, and ar- 
rived, for the first time, at some principles 
of play. 

The way having been thus prepared, there 
was wanting a man of genius who would 
further work out the elements of the game, 
and mould it into a permanent form. This 
man appeared in the person of Edmoxd 
Hoyle. There is very little trustworthy in- 
formation as to his antecedents. He was 
born, according to the best account that ex- 
ists, about 1679. It is said he studied as a 
barrister, and he styles himself in his first 
book " a gentleman. " It is clear he was a 
man of good education, and moved in good 
society. Possibly he was one of the party 
who met at the Crown. 

It appears that he had noticed the game at 
an early period, when it was quite in its low 
estate. He studied i .veil, and saw that it 
had great capabilities, but that it was much 
debased by the use made of it by sharpers 
for cheating inexperienced players out of 
their money. He believed it was in his 
power to guard the public against these 
unprincipled practices, as well as to excite 
a more legitimate interest in the game, by 
spreading a better knowledge of the prin- 
ciples on which it should be played. To at- 
tain these objects, therefore, he resolved to 



HISTORY. — HOYLE, PAYNE, MATTHEWS 37 

teach it professionally, in the same way that 
a master would teach music, or drawing, or 
fencing, or any other accomplishment. 

His spirited attempt excited much atten- 
tion, and we find several notices of it on rec- 
ord. In the Rambler of May 8, 1750, a lady 
writes : 

"As for play, I do think I may indulge in that, now I 
am my own mistress. Papa made me drudge at Whist 
till I was tired of it ; and far from wanting a head, Mr. 
Hoyle, when he had not given me above forty lessons, 
said I was one of his best scholars." 

In the Gentleman's Magazine of February, 
1755, a writer, professing to give the auto- 
biography of a fashionable physician, says : — 

" Hoyle tutored me in several games at cards, and under 
the name of guarding me from being cheated, insensibly 
gave me a taste for sharping." 

In the course of his instruction Mr. Hoyle 
gave to his pupils some manuscript notes 
which he had drawn up containing rules and 
directions for their guidance. The novelty 
and great value of these rules and direc- 
tions were soon discovered, and as the fame 
of his instruction spread, surreptitious copies 
began to get into circulation ; when Mr. 
Hoyle, to secure his copyright, had them 
printed and published, and thus arose the 



38 THE ERA OF HOYLE 

famous work which has immortalized his 
name. 

We shall give some particulars as to this 
book in the next chapter. There is only one 
copy known to exist of the first edition, which 
is in the Bodleian Library. It has a long 
title, beginning as follows : 

" A Short Treatise on the Game of Whist, containing the 
Laws of the Game, and also some Rules whereby a Be- 
ginner may, with due attention to them, attain to the Play- 
ing it well." 

The date upon it is 1742. 

The book had a great and rapid success ; it 
went through several editions very quickly, 
and it seems to have been again pirated, as 
the author found it necessary to certify every 
genuine copy by attaching his autograph 
signature, of which the following, taken from 
the thirteenth edition, is a fac-simile. 




At this time changes had been made, in- 
creasing the winning score to ten, and using 
the whole pack, thus allotting thirteen cards 
to each player. This latter improvement 



HISTORY. — HOYLE, PAYNE, MATTHEWS 39 

gave the first introduction of the odd trick, 
an element now of such great interest ; and, 
taken all together, the game, as Hoyle pre- 
sents it, is precisely the form of Long Whist 
ever since played. 

The effect of Hoyle's promulgation of the 
game in its improved form w r as very prompt, 
as we learn from a clever and amusing bro- 
chure that appeared in 1743, called 

" The Humours of Whist, a dramatic Satire, as acted 
every day at White's and other Coffee-houses and As- 
semblies." 

It is a short comedy, the principal characters 
being Professor Whiston (Hoyle), who gives 
lessons in the game ; Sir Calculation Puzzle, 
an enthusiastic player who muddles his head 
with Hoyle's calculations, and always loses ; 
pupils, sharpers, and their dupes. The ob- 
ject is chiefly to ridicule the pretensions of 
Hoyle and the enthusiasm of his followers, 
and to show that skill and calculation are of 
no avail against bad luck or premeditated 
fraud. The work was reprinted ten years 
later, but it is scarce, and it will be useful to 
give a few extracts that throw light on the 
circumstances attending the first introduction 
of the new rules. 

It would appear that Hoyle had spent a 
considerable time in the study of the game ; 



40 



THE ERA OE HOYLE 



and the prologue to the " Humours of 
Whist " says : 

11 Who will believe that man could e'er exist, 
Who spent near half an age in studying whist ? 
Grew o-reV w ^ tn calculation, labour hard, 
As if life's business center'd in a card ? 
That such there is, let me to those appeal 
Who with sucn liberal hands reward his zeal. 
Lo ! Whist becomes a science, and our peers 
Deign to t :urn schoolboys in their riper years." 

Sir Calcination Puzzle gives some amusing 
explanations of his losses. In one case he 
says : 

" That certainly was the most out of the way bite [swin- 
dle] ever heard °f- Upon the pinch of the game, when 
he must infallibly have lost it, the dog ate the losing card, 
by which mea ns we dealt again, and faith he won the 
game." 

Again, h£ describes a curious ending of a 
game : 

" We were mne a h*- The adversary had 3 and we 
4 tricks. All the trumps were out. I had Queen and 
two small clubs* ^vith the lead. Let me see ; it was about 
222 and 3 halves to— 'gad, I forget how many— that my 
partner had the ace anc * King ; ay, that he had not both of 
them. 17 to 2 ; an d that he had not one, or both, or neither, 
some 25 to 32. So I, according to the judgment of the 
game, led a cluP I m y partner takes it with the King. Then 
it was exactlv 481 f° r us to 222 for them. He returns the 
same suit, and J win it with my Queen, and return it again ; 



HISTORY.— HOYLE, PAYNE, MATTHEWS 4 1 

but the devil take that Lurchum, by passing his ace twice, 
he took the trick, and having two more clubs and a thir- 
teenth card, 1 egad, all was over." 

The praise of Hoyle's book by its support- 
ers is unbounded. They say: 

" There never was so excellent a book printed. I'm quite 
in raptures with it. I will eat with it, sleep with it, go to 
Parliament with it, go to church with it. I pronounce it 
the gospel of Whist-players. I want words to express the 
author, and can look on him in no other light than as a 
second Newton. I have joined twelve companies in the 
Mall, and eleven of them were talking of it. It's the sub- 
ject of all conversation, and has had the honour to be in- 
troduced into the Cabinet." 

The wits, however, did not neglect to poke 
fun at the Professor : 

" Bean. Ha ! ha ! ha ! I shall dye ! Yonder is Lord 
Finesse and Sir George Tenace, two first-rate players ; 
they have been most lavishly beat by a couple of 'pren- 
tices. Ha ! ha ! ha ! They came slap four by honours 
upon them almost every deal. 

11 Lord Rally. I find, Professor, your book does not 
teach how to beat four by honours ! Ha ! ha ! ha ! 

" Professor (aside). Curse them ; I'd rather have given 
a thousand pounds than this should have happened. It 
strikes at the reputation of my Treatise. 

" Lord Rally. In my opinion there is still something 

1 An artifice probably taught by Hoyle. See further remarks 
on this matter in Appendix A. 



42 THE ERA OF HOYLE 

wanting to compleat the system of Whist ; and that is a 
Dissertation on the Lucky Chair ! {Company laugh?) 

" Professor. Ha ! ha ! ha ! Your Lordship's hint is ex- 
cellent. I'm obliged to you for it." 

In spite of all this banter, however, Whist 
continued to advance rapidly in public fa- 
vour, and about ten years later it arrived at 
its culmination in fashion by being received 
at court and formally acknowledged as one 
of the royal amusements. 1 

In 1758 it had become a fit recreation for 
University men, as in No. 33 of the Tatlcr the 
senior fellow of a college at Cambridge rep- 
resents himself and his party as " sitting late 
at Whist in the evening." 

Hoyle, fortunately, lived to see and to en- 
joy the success of his labours ; but in the fif- 
teenth edition of his book the well-known 
signature was for the first time not given 
with his own hand, but was impressed from 
a wood block, and in the seventeenth edition 
it was announced that " Mr. Hoyle was 

1 The evidence of this is curious. In 1720 there had been pub- 
lished a little book called the " Court Gamester," said on the title- 
page to be "written for the use of the young princesses," the 
daughters of the Prince of Wales, afterwards George II. It had 
also a second part called the City Gamester, containing less polite 
games, used east of Temple Bar. Whist was included in the lat- 
ter category up to the seventh edition, but in the next, dated 1754, 
it was honoured by being transferred to the " Courts" or palace 
division. 



HISTORY. — HOYLE, PAYNE, MATTHEWS 43 

dead." The great man departed this life at 
the ripe age of ninety, in August, 1769. 1 

I Later researches by " Cavendish " have unearthed many con- 
temporary references to Hoyle and his work, which show the re- 
markable popularity that he, and the game of Whist, as taught by 
him, attained. 

The first edition of his book, though it bears the date 1743, was 
entered at Stationers' Hall, November, 1742, and there is every 
reason to believe that five editions had appeared before the end 
of 1743. 

It is mentioned in a letter from Horace Walpole to Sir Horace 
Mann, dated April 4, 1743. He says : 

II I really don't know why I am so dry ; mine used to be the 
pen of a ready writer, but Whist seems to have stretched its lead- 
en wand over me, too, who have nothing to do with it. I am try- 
ing to set the noble game of Bilboquet against it, and composing 
a grammar in opposition to Mr. Hoyle's. You will some day or 
other see an advertisement in the papers to tell you where it may 
be bought, and that ladies may be waited on by the author at 
their houses, to receive any further directions." 

Bilboquet is a form of " cup and ball," said to be a favourite 
amusement with literary men (See Guy de Maupassant, " Bel- 
Ami "). Walpole's last paragraph is clearly in ridicule of some 
similar announcements by Hoyle. 

The popularity of his W r hist teaching among ladies is referred 
to as early as 1743 or J 744» m a Ladies' Journal, and in 1750 
there is published a long (probably fictitious) letter from a lady 
to Hoyle. 

In 1748 Whist parties of fashionable people at Bath are de- 
scribed, and in 1752 Hoyle's name is enshrined in a " Hymn to 
Fashion." In 1753 he is called "the great Mr. Hoyle," and in 
1754 his "philosophic pen" is alluded to, attention being called 
to his known ability for probability calculations. About that time 
the popular enthusiasm seems to have been at its height, as we 
find Hoyle and Whist frequently mentioned by poets and other 
writers as of considerable public interest. 

In 1755, however, the venerable master, then about seventy-six 
years of age, is spoken of as giving up personal teaching, and it 
was suggested that a " school for Whist " should be formed. His 



44 THE ERA OF HOYLE 

Byron's oft-quoted parallel, 

" Troy owes to Homer what Whist owes to Hoyle," 

hardly does justice to our author, for he was 
far more than the historian of Whist ; he 
may essentially be considered its founder. 

Hoyle had two excellent successors in the 
same epoch, Payne and Matthews, who car- 
ried on his work very intelligently and suc- 
cessfully. 

Immediately after Hoyle's death, i.e., about 
1770, there appeared a little book entitled : 

" Maxims for playing the Game of Whist, with all nec- 
essary Calculations ; and the Laws of the Game. Lon- 
don. Printed for T. Payne & Son, next the Mews Gate, 
St. Martin's." 

No author's name was given, but the \vriter 
was a William Payne, and the book has 
always gone by the name of " Payne's Max- 
ims." The author said, in his Preface : 

book remained, but personal instruction was never revived till it 
was adopted by the Americans a few years ago. 

In 1769 the newspapers give accounts of Hoyle's death as of a 
well-known public character. A writer shortly afterwards quotes 
from the Parish Register of Marylebone, " Edmund (sic) Hoyle, 
buried August the 23d, 1769 : Author of a well-known Treatise on 
the Game of Whist ; " and adds, " He was ninety years of age at 
the time of his decease." This is, perhaps, the best statement 
of his age, but some accounts make him older. Unfortunately, 
neither the Register nor the tombstone can now be found. 

The data in this note are for the most part new, and are given 
by " Cavendish's " kind permission. 



HISTORY.— HOYLE, PAYNE, MATTHEWS 45 

11 The game of whist is so happily compounded betwixt 
chance and skill, that it is generally esteemed the most 
curious and entertaining of the cards, and is therefore be- 
come a favourite pastime to persons of the first conse- 
quence and the most distinguished abilities. 

" The great variety of hands and critical cases, arising 
from such a number of cards, renders the game so nice 
and difficult, that much time and practice has heretofore 
been necessary to the obtaining a tolerable degree of 
knowledge in it. 

" The following maxims were begun by way of memo- 
randums for private use, and are published with a design 
to instruct beginners, to assist the moderate proficient, 
and, in general, to put the players more upon equality by 
disclosing the secrets of the game." 

Payne's book has the advantage of being 
well arranged. He introduced a series of 
classified Maxims for the general guidance 
of the student, some of which were new and 
original, and foreshadowed a more modern 
phase of the game. 

" Payne's Maxims'' were incorporated into 
the so-called " improved " editions of Hoyle, 
published after the great master's death. 

After Whist had come well into vogue, one 
of the chief seats of its practice was the city 
of Bath, where card games had been much 
encouraged generally ; and during the half 
century after Hoyle's work appeared, the 
constant practice of Whist there, by clever 



46 THE ERA OF HOYLE 

players, had resulted in many improvements 
in detail. These were put on record in a lit- 
tle work on the subject, which was published 
in Bath in 1804, under the following elaborate 
title : 

" Advice to the young Whist Player : containing most 
of the Maxims of the old School, with the Author's Ob- 
servations on those he thinks erroneous ; with several new 
ones, exemplified by apposite cases ; and a method of ac- 
quiring a knowledge of the principles on which they are 
grounded ; pointed out to the inexperienced whist player. 
By an Amateur." 

The author's name was attached in subse- 
quent editions as " Thomas Matthews, Esq." ' 
He says in one place : 

" It may not be unnecessary to inform the reader that 
most of Hoyle's maxims were collected during what may 
be called the infancy of Whist ; and that he himself, so far 
from being able to teach the game, was not fit to sit down 
even with the third-rate players of the present day." 

This is hard on the father of the game, 
and lacks confirmation ; but still, Matthews's 
book is an excellent one, much of which is 
worthy of attentive study. 

About this date, so popular had the game 
of Whist become, that it was made to form 

1 In one edition, much circulated, the name was spelt " Ma- 
thews," an error that has, in consequence, become very common. 



HISTORY. — HOYLE, PAYNE, MATTHEWS 47 

the subject of an elaborate Epic poem. This 
appeared in 1791, and was entitled : 

." Whist : a Poem in twelve Cantos." 

The author was a Scotch gentleman named 
Alexander Thomson ; and his book, which 
went through two editions, shewed much 
learning by quotations from or references to 
authors in almost every language, dead or 
living, and of almost every age, from the Pa- 
triarchs to the eighteenth century. After a 
proper invocation, it gives a mythical account 
of the introduction of playing-cards and the 
invention of the game ; then versifies the laws 
and rules, describes the play of a hand, 1 philos- 
ophizes on the character and merits of the 
game, and winds up with a rhapsody as fol- 
lows : 

" Nor do I yet despair to see the day 
When hostile armies, rang'd in neat array, 
Instead of fighting, shall engage in play. 
When peaceful whist the quarrel shall decide, 
And Christian blood be spilt on neither side. 
Then pleas no more shall wait the tardy laws, 
But one odd trick at once conclude the cause. 
(Tho' some will say that this is nothing new, 
For here there have been long odd tricks enow !) 
Then Britain still, to all the world's surprise, 
In this great science shall progressive rise, 
Till ages hence, when all of each degree 
Shall play the game as well as Hoyle or me!" 

1 See Appendix A, where the hand is given. 



48 THE ERA OF HOYLE 

The knowledge of Whist was circulated at 
an early period among intellectual coteries 
on the continent by translations of Hoyle. 
It took good root in France ; it was played 
by Louis XV., and under the first empire it 
was a favourite game of Josephine and Marie 
Louise, and Napoleon played it much at St. 
Helena. After the Restoration it was taken 
up more enthusiastically. " The nobles," says 
a French writer, " had gone to England to 
learn to think, and they brought back the 
thinking game with them." It was said that 
any one engaged at this game had " l'air 
gentleman et diplomate." 

Talleyrand was a great player ; he spent 
at it in his latter years many hours every 
day, and the mot ascribed to him, " Vous ne 
savez paz le whiste, jeune homme? Quelle 
triste viellesse vous vous preparez ! " is a 
standing quotation in all Whist books. 
Charles X. was playing Whist at St. Cloud 
on July 29, 1830, when the tricolour was 
waving on the Tuileries, and he had lost his 
throne. 

In 1839 appeared a " Traite du Whiste," by 
M. Deschapelles, whom Clay called " the 
finest Whist player beyond any comparison 
the world had ever seen." Much was to be 
expected from such a quarter, but the pub- 
lication was but a fragment of a larger work 



HISTORY.— HOYLE, PAYNE, MATTHEWS 49 

that never appeared, and it was devoted 
principally to the laws of the game. The 
author said little about the play ; but treated 
the subject in a manner highly spiritucl. He 
reasoned on -immensity and eternity ; on met- 
aphysical necessity and trial by jury ; he in- 
voked the sun of Joshua and the star of the 
Magi ; he investigated the electric affinities 
of the players ; and illustrated a hand by 
analytical geometry. He died at Paris in 

1847. 

Whist was also much cultivated in Aus- 
tria, as is shown by the well-known fact 
that the great Prince Metternich, the prime 
minister of that empire during nearly the first 
half of the present century, was a passionate 
enthusiast for the game. 

Meanwhile, after the publication of Mat- 
thews's work, Whist went steadily on, not 
only in Bath (so long as the fashion of the 
gay city of Bladud lasted) but also in Lon- 
don, where it was taken up by the choice so- 
cieties meeting in the best clubs. 

During the early part of the present cen- 
tury an important change took place, namely, 
the introduction of Short Whist, by altering 
the winning score from ten to five. The 
change is said to have originated in an acci- 
dent ; Lord Peterborough having one night 

4 



50 THE ERA OF HOYLE 

lost a large sum of money, the friends with 
whom he was playing proposed to give him 
the revanche at five points instead of ten, in 
order to afford him a quicker chance of re- 
covering his loss. The new plan was found 
so lively that it soon became popular, and ul- 
timately superseded Long Whist altogether 
in the best circles. 

The reason of this preference is not dif- 
ficult to discover. All good players must 
have found out how the interest increased to- 
wards the close of the Long game, when the 
parties were pretty even, and when it became 
necessary to pay stricter attention to the 
score in order to regulate the play. Now to 
cause this state of things to recur more fre- 
quently, it would be sufficient to play, as it 
were, the latter half of the game without the 
former, i.e., to commence with both parties at 
the score of five, for this is the true sense of 
the alteration. 

This mode of viewing it accounts for no 
change being made in the value of the hon- 
ours. Some persons think the scoring of 
these should have been halved, and no doubt 
this would have given more effect to skill in 
play ; indeed, for this object the Americans 
have abolished the honour-scores altogether. 
But to the generality of English players such 
a change would have rendered the game less 



HISTORY. — HOYLE, PAYNE, MATTHEWS 5 I 

interesting. It must not be forgotten that 
the element of chance is often considered one 
of the attractive features of Whist, by good 
players as well as by mediocre ones ; and to 
diminish its influence might, in many cir- 
cles, endanger the popularity of the game. 

The Short form gradually increased in fa- 
vour, and by the middle of the century the 
old "Long Whist" became practically ex- 
tinct, or at least only survived in spheres far 
removed from the metropolitan centre. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE HOYLE GAME 

The evidence of the earliest attempt to im- 
prove the game is given by the Hon. Daines 
Barrington, writing in 1786 {Archceologia, Vol. 
VIII.) on the information of a gentleman then 
86 years of age. He says : 

" Whisk seems never to have been played upon principles 
till about 50 years ago [1736], when it was much studied 
by a set of gentlemen who frequented the Crown Coffee 
House in Bedford Row. Before that time it was chiefly 
confined to the servants' hall, with All-fours and Put. 

" They laid down the following rules : To play from the 
strongest suit ; To study your partner s hand as much as 
your own ; Never to force your part7ier winecessarily ; 
and To atte?id to the score" 

These precepts show a considerable ad- 
vance beyond the Primitive Game. 

It is not improbable that Hoyle was one 
of the party, and that these rules may have 
been the first indications of his own great 
improvements. All we know is, that his 
book, embodying and amplifying the above- 
mentioned precepts, first appeared a few 



THE HOYLE GAME 53 

years after the date mentioned ; and we 
know, further, that this book made such an 
impression on the public as to give them 
the idea that he was introducing a new 
game. The object of the play remained 
the same, namely, to make tricks ; but the 
modes of doing so were much varied and ex- 
tended. The primitive plan laid stress on 
two modes : first, by the natural predomi- 
nance of master-cards (which it was accord- 
ingly considered advisable to play out early), 
and secondly, by trumping. The new game 
opened more far-seeing views. 

In the first place, although due advantage 
was taken of master-cards, it did not recom- 
mend that they should be played out early, 
except in special cases, as benefit might often 
result from keeping them back for a time. 

Hoyle pointed out that trick-making de- 
pended much more on the relative positions 
of the cards in the four hands, than on the 
high cards in one hand alone ; and that, if the 
results of the play of a hand were carefully 
examined, it would be found that the majority 
of tricks were made by means that could not 
be foreseen at the beginning by any single 
player. Hence, he showed that by taking 
advantage of the position of the cards lying in 
the various hands, or by other skilful contri- 
vances, tricks might be made by cards of lower 



54 THE ERA OF HOYLE 

value, even while higher cards of the suit 
were still in the opponents' possession. 

He also explained how tricks might be 
made by a number of small cards of a long 
suit, so entailing the exclusion of tricks in 
other good suits held by the adversaries. 
This " long-suit system " was destined to be 
of immense import in the structure of later 
forms of the game. 

He further introduced novel ideas about 
trumping. He proved that to obtain tricks 
in this way was not always the best use that 
could be made of the powerful cards of the 
trump suit. In many cases they might pre- 
ferably be vised to disarm the adversaries, 
and by that means to obtain secondary ad- 
vantages in trick-making by other suits of 
less apparent power. 

It resulted from all these novelties, that 
whereas the efforts of play in the Primitive 
Game were very simple, dictated only by the 
most obvious condition of the player's own 
hand, the new game introduced more com- 
plex considerations regarding the other hands 
also, and the advantages that might be taken 
of the positions of the cards in them. 

It may be conceived that Hoyle, in in- 
structing a pupil, might lay down on the 
table a set of four hands exposed face up- 
wards, one of the four being appropriated to 



THE HOYLE GAME 55 

the learner. He would first call attention to 
the few tricks which that player might make 
from his own hand, according to the primi- 
tive mode of play, and he would then contrast 
this result with what might be obtained by 
the new system. 

He would go on, probably, to inform his 
pupil by what means information as to the 
other hands might be obtained. He would 
show how inferences might be drawn from 
the cards played, explaining that every card 
falling from the hand either of a partner or 
of an opponent might, if properly interpreted, 
afford some indication as to the cards re- 
maining in the player's hand ; and thus he 
would impress upon the learner the great 
lesson of watching " the fall of the cards," 
and endeavouring to regulate his own play 
according to the indications shown. 

This new element of directing attention to 
the contents of the other hands, instead of 
confining it to the player's hand only, may 
probably be considered to be the most sali- 
ent point of Hoyle's improvement in Whist, 
and has ever since held a most prominent po- 
sition in Whist science. 

It is interesting to consider the manner in 
which the great man carried out his teach- 
ing. The improvement above-mentioned in 



56 THE ERA OF HOYLE 

the structure of the game necessitated rules 
and expedients in great complexity, in conse- 
quence of the almost infinite variety of the 
distribution of the cards in the different 
hands ; and this fact almost precluded his 
directions from being expressed in any gen- 
eral formulas. Hence, the professional teach- 
ing of the game, which Hoyle boldly under- 
took, became a very formidable thing. 

He was a clever man, and no doubt thought 
well out the mode of conveying his instruc- 
tions ; and he decided that it could better 
be given personally, than by writings. By 
this means, adopting the educational system 
known as " object lessons/' he could give pref- 
erence to example over precept, and could 
show practical illustrations of the various 
novel points he had introduced, rather than 
offer verbal statements of them. It w r ould be 
intensely interesting if we could get any au- 
thentic descriptions of his lessons, but none 
such have been preserved. 

Fortunately, however, we have some sort 
of indication of his system of procedure. He 
found that his pupils had (very naturally) 
a difficulty in recollecting the specific di- 
rections he gave them ; and to aid their 
memory he wrote out a series of notes or 
memoranda. These, as we have already 
stated {Ante page 37), were ultimately print- 



THE HOYLE GAME S7 

ed, and so they have come down to our 
day. 

We may give some little account of the 
book thus presented to us, which contains all 
that we know, from his own hand, of the sys- 
tem adopted in his teaching. 

The books now sold as " Hoyle's Games " 
have been so " improved M (as the title page 
states) that we cannot take them as giving 
much representation of what we have here 
to describe ; but we have been favoured by 
" Cavendish," with the loan of a rare copy of 
the real work, published in 1746, and authen- 
ticated by Hoyle's autograph signature, from 
which we may give a few data. 

It is a duodecimo, 6]/ 2 inches by 4, of 80 
pages, and the full title is as follows : 



A Short Treatise on the Game of WHIST, contain- 
ing the Laws of the Game, and also some Rules, where- 
by a beginner may, with due attention to them, attain to 
the Playing it well. 

Calculations for those who will bet the odds on any 
points of the score of the game then playing and depend- 
ing. 

Cases stated, to show what may be effected, by a very 
good Player, in critical Parts of the Game. 

References to Cases, viz., at the end of the rule 
you are directed how to find them. 

Calculations directing with moral certainty how to 



58 THE ERA OF HOYLE 

play well any hand or game by showing the chances of 
your Partner's having i, 2, or 3 certain cards. 
With variety of Cases added in the Appendix. 

By Edmoxd Hoyle, Gent. 

With great additions to the Laws of the Game, and an 
Explanation of the Calculations which are necessary to be 
understood by those who would play it well. 

And also, never before published, a Dictionary for 
Whist which resolves almost all the critical cases that 
may happen at the Game. 

To which is added : 

An Artificial Memory, or an easy method of assist- 
ing the memory of those that play at the game of Whist. 

And several Cases not hitherto published. 

London. 

Printed for T. Osborne at Grays Inn ; T. Hillyard at 
York ; M. Bryson at Newcastle ; and T. Leake at Bath. 
MDCCXLVI. 

Price One Shilling. 

At the back of the Title Page is a warning 
against piracies, after which comes the fol- 
lowing Address. 

To the Reader. 

The author of the following Treatise has thought proper 
to give the Publick Notice that he has reduced the price 
of it, that it may not be w r orth any person's while to pur- 
chase the Pirated Editions which have already been ob- 
truded on the World ; as likewise all those Piratical Edi- 
tions are extremely incorrect ; and that he will not under- 



THE HOYLE GAME 59 

take to explain any case but in such copies as have been 
set forth by himself, or that are Authorized as Revised 
and Corrected under his own hand. 

" (Here follows the autograph signature.) 

Edmond Hoyle. 

Another notice contains the following little 
matter of business. 

He has also framed an Artificial Memory which does 
not take off your attention from your game ; and if re- 
quired, he is ready to communicate it upon payment of 
one guinea. And also he will explain any cases in the 
book, upon payment of one guinea more. 

Then follow some preliminary calculations 
" necessary to be understood by those who 
are to read the Treatise " — and some com- 
putations " for laying of your money ; " — after 
which the real book begins with a statement 
of the Laivs. These are twenty-four in num- 
ber, but they differ materially from those in 
the modern editions. 1 



1 The modern copies contain preliminary matter of the "im- 
prover's " own, followed by "Twenty-four short Rules for Learn- 
ers," taken from a little book published at Bath in 1793, called 
"Hoyle abridged, or Short Rules for Short Memories at the 
Game of Whist, adapted either for the head or pocket. By Bob 
Short." Hoyle's more important teaching matter is essentially 
reproduced, but with considerable alterations of the wording, 
mostly quite arbitrary and unnecessary. The division into chap- 
ters is also abandoned, which makes the book appear still more 
confused and unmethodical. 



60 THE ERA OF HOYLE 

The teaching part of the book, which then 
follows, is divided into fifteen chapters. The 
first consists of " Some General Rules to be 
observed by Beginners ; " these are thirty- 
seven in number, the last seventeen directing 
the most advisable trump leads from various 
combinations in the hand ; and Chapter II. 
adds eight " particular cases," in which a 
trump lead is advisable. The eleven follow- 
ing chapters consist almost entirely of exam- 
ples of special cases or situations, in which cer- 
tain advantageous modes of play are shown 
and explained. In Chapter XIV. are given 
further explanations concerning the play of 
sequences, etc., which were desired " by some 
purchasers of the Treatise in Manuscript, dis- 
posed of last winter," to which are made two 
additions. First, " A Dictionary [Catechism] 
for Whist, which resolves almost all the crit- 
ical cases that may happen at that game," by 
way of Question and Answer. For example : 

Ques. How to play [lead] sequences when trumps? 

Ans. You are to begin with the highest of them. 

Ques. How to play sequences when they are not 
trumps ? 

Ans. If you have five in number you are to begin with 
the lowest ; if three or four in number always play the 
highest. 

Ques. When ought you to make tricks early ? 

Ans. When you are weak in trumps. 



THE HOYLE GAME 6l 

The second addition is " An explanation, 
for the use of beginners, of Terms or Tech- 
nical Words." 

Chapter XV. contains the " Artificial Mem- 
ory," being rules for sorting and placing the 
cards in your hand, so as to remind you of 
the trump suit ; the turn-up card ; the best 
or second-best cards remaining of a suit ; 
your partner's first lead, and so on. And 
some Additional Cases form the Conclusion. 

The book fully confirms the tradition, that 
Hoyle's mode of teaching was by exam- 
ples rather than by principles ; and one 
can clearly see that it has been put together 
piecemeal at different times, to serve as 
memoranda, to aid the pupils in recollecting 
the advice and suggestions personally given 
them. In this way it has happened that the 
teaching contained in the book seems dis- 
jointed and unsystematic. But it would be a 
great mistake to undervalue the author's 
work on this account; for the great popu- 
larity and success of his teaching form the 
best testimony to its efficiency. 

In the volume we have been quoting from 
there are also bound up other Treatises by 
Hoyle, of about the same date, on the games 
of Quadrille, Piquet, Chess, and Backgam- 
mon; and these have been also included, 
with much other matter, in the imperfect 



62 THE ERA OF IIOYLE 

compilations now sold as " Hoyle's Games." 
It is a marvel, considering the immense pop- 
ularity of Whist, and the transcendent merit 
of Hoyle's work in regard to it, that no 
good republication of his book has ever been 
produced. Even now, with all the modern 
Whist literature before us, one would think 
that such a republication, not altered or " im- 
proved," but intelligently annotated, would 
be an acceptable thing to earnest students of 
the game. 

Hoyle's book was followed, as we have 
said, by the " Maxims " of Payne. The object 
of these was very laudable ; the author saw 
the want of arrangement in Hoyle's book, 
and he was the first to do two very impor- 
tant things, namely, in the first place, to 
arrange the Rules or Maxims under their 
proper heads — as " Leader," " Second Hand," 
" Leading Trumps," and so on ; and, secondly, 
to add to each rule a statement of its reason 
or justification, which was printed in different 
type. 

A few examples will show the nature and 
merits of Payne's work. 

LEADER. 

" Begin with the suit of which you have most in number. 
For when the trumps are out you will probably make 
several tricks in it. 



THE HOYLE GAME 63 

14 Sequences are always eligible leads. As supporting 
your partner without injuring your own hand. 

44 Having - King, Knave and ten, lead the ten. For if your 
partner holds the Ace you have a good chance to make 
three tricks whether he passes the ten or not. 

SECOND HAND. 

44 Having Ace, Queen and small cards, play a small one. 
For upon the returii of the suit you will probably make 
two tricks. 

44 Having Queen, ten, and small ones, play a small one. 
For your partner has an equal chance to win. 

THIRD HAND. 

44 Having Ace and Knave, play the Ace and return the 
Knave. In order to strengthen your partner s hand. 

LEADING TRUMPS. 

44 Lead trumps from a strong hand, but never from a weak 
one. By which means you will secure your good cards 
from being trumped. 

PLAYING FOR THE ODD TRICK. 

14 Be cautious of trumping out [i.e., drawing the trumps] 
notwithstanding you have a good hand. For since you 
want the odd trick only, it would be absurd to play a 
great game" 

The Book of Matthews, who followed 
Hoyle and Payne, marks a considerable fur- 
ther advance. The new game had then 
been much played, for the author begins by 
saying : 

44 It is a fact of general notoriety, that notwithstanding 
the numerous theories published, and the almost universal 



64 THE ERA OF HOYLE 

practice of a science, where profit and amusement may be 
combined, a capital Whist player is scarcely ever, and 
even what may be termed a good one, but rarely met 
with." 

The book shows much careful thought, 
particularly in regard to elementary knowl- 
edge. It defines Whist as "a game of Calcu- 
lation, Observation, and Position or Tenace" 

Calculation, he says, teaches you to plan 
your game, and lead originally to advan- 
tage ; and some simple examples are given 
to show how the calculation of probabilities 
may guide early leads while the other hands 
are unknown. 

After a few leads have taken place this is 
nearly superseded by Observation, as the au- 
thor points out that good players, who ob- 
serve and note well the fall of the cards, may, 
before half the tricks are played, become " as 
well acquainted with the material ones re- 
maining in each other's hands as if they had 
seen them." 

These two elements, he says, " may be 
called the foundation of the game, and are so 
merely mechanical, that any one possessed 
of a tolerable memory may attain them." 

After which, continues the author, comes 
the more difficult science of Position, or the 
art of using the two former to advantage ; 
without which it is self-evident, they are of 



THE HOYLE GAME 65 

no use. Attentive study and practice will, 
in some degree, ensure success ; but genius 
must be added before the whole finesse of 
the game can be acquired. However,"^/ 
quiddam prodire tenus, si non datur ultra." " It 
is something to advance to a certain point, if 
you cannot go farther/' 

This opinion, at such an early time, of the 
necessity of special mental gifts to make a 
first-rate player, is very noteworthy ; and 
shows a remarkable insight into the nature 
of Whist. It is more applicable now than it 
was then, as the game has become more in- 
tricate. 

The body of Matthews's book consists of 
" Directions and Maxims for beginners." 
These are one hundred and nine in num- 
ber, and are heterogeneously disposed, with- 
out any sub-headings ; a defect which dimin- 
ishes their usefulness, and increases the dif- 
ficulty of profiting by them. They are, how- 
ever, generally, very good ; some have been 
altered or abolished by the subsequent 
march of Evolution, but most of them are as 
applicable to the modern form of game, as 
to the one they belong to. There are among 
them some rather elaborate examples of sit- 
uations, like those given by Hoyle. 

We may quote a few of the Maxims to give 
an idea of their general nature. 



66 THE ERA OF HOYLE 

14 Study all written maxims with the cards placed before 
you, in the situations mentioned ; abstract directions puz- 
zle much oftener than they assist the beginner. 

" Never lead a card without a reason, though a wrong 
one ; it is better than accustoming yourself to play at ran- 
dom. 

4i The more plainly you demonstrate your hand to your 
partner the better. Be particularly cautious not to deceive 
him in his or your own leads [suits]. 

" Be as careful of what you throw away as what you 
lead. 

" Never ruff an uncertain card, if strong, or omit doing 
so if weak in trumps. 

14 When with a very strong suit, you lead trumps in hope 
your partner may command them, shew 7 your suit first. 

14 If you win your partner's lead with the queen (unless 
in trumps) do not return it ; it is evident the ace or king lies 
behind him. 

" Should your partner refuse to trump a certain winning 
card, try to get the lead as soon as you can, and play out 
trumps immediately. 

44 If weak in trumps, keep guard on your adversaries' 
suits. If strong, throw away from them. 

44 Finesses are generally right in trumps, or, if strong in 
trumps, in other suits ; otherwise they are not to be risked 
but with caution." l 

In describing this form of game we must 
not omit to notice the attention which Hoyle 
paid to the Calculations of Probabilities, as af- 

1 In an article on "Whist" by the author of this work, pub- 
lished in" The Handbook of Games," by Messrs. George Bell 
& Sons, 1891, he has endeavoured to make prominent the great 
merits of Hoyle, Payne, and Matthews, particularly the former, 
in developing this stage of Whist. 



THE HOYLE GAME 67 

fecting the rules of play. He laid stress on 
them in his book in many places, as dictating 
the modes of action, and gave, in his treatise, 
a series of calculations and their results. 
The frequent allusions to the subject in 
contemporary publications (see, for example, 
the extract from the " Humours of Whist," 
on page 40), show that it was included in 
his teaching. 

Indeed, such was his earnestness about it 
that he wrote a separate book entitled 

11 An Essay towards making the Doctrine of Chances 
easy to those who understand vulgar Arithmetic. " 

The problems for Whist contained in this 
book are, however, but few and simple, and 
it is probable that he found the subject too 
abstruse for his pupils generally. 

Matthews, also, mentioned the calculation 
of Probabilities as useful in guiding early 
leads, but he did not follow out the subject 
in detail ; and it would appear that this ele- 
ment of Whist afterwards became neglected, 
till it was revived many years later in the 
Philosophical Game. 

The legacy left to us by Hoyle and his 
two successors presents the great essential 
features of the Game of Whist as played 
ever since, subject only, in later stages of the 



68 THE ERA OF HOYLE 

Evolution, to the more perfect definition and 
establishment of its fundamental principles, 
and to certain improvements in detail conse- 
quent thereon. 

This game gives great scope to personal 
skill, which indeed is its main characteristic 
and its chief requirement, as it depends chief- 
ly on personal skill for its successful prac- 
tice. It embodies no enunciation of any gen- 
eral system of play, or of any fundamental 
guiding principles ; attention is directed to 
a great variety of isolated occurrences that 
may be met with, and advice is given as to 
what should or may be done in each case ; 
so that the player, keeping these examples in 
mind, may use his own discretion in their 
application when analogous cases arise. And 
by frequent practice the power becomes ma- 
tured of dealing successfully, and often bril- 
liantly, with the many chance combinations 
that may present themselves in the course of 
play. 

For this reason, the Hoyle game has al- 
ways been peculiarly acceptable to intelli- 
gent and clever players, as giving them an 
opportunity of exercising their powers and 
of profiting by them. 

It may be said to have prevailed in the 
best Whist circles unchanged for more than 
a century after its introduction. And al- 



THE HOYLE GAME 69 

though, in later years, the progress of Whist 
Evolution has led to the advances which we 
shall have immediately to mention, it still re- 
tains a large hold on Whist players, and is 
played probably more than any of the later 
developments. 



PART III 

THE PHILOSOPHICAL ERA 

From a.d. i860 Onwards 



CHAPTER V 

HISTORY 
" CAVENDISH " AND CLAY 

The next great step in the Evolution of 
Whist consisted of the more modern scientific 
determination and consolidation of the Hoyle 
game ; the establishment of its theoretical 
principles, and some alterations in the details 
of its practical structure consequent thereon. 
This was effected between i860 and 1870, ue. % 
about a century and a quarter after Hoyle's 
introduction of it ; and we mark therein a 
distinct stage of progress, as establishing for 
the first time a positive theoretical basis for 
the mode of play. 

Hitherto the directions promulgated by 
authors and teachers were disjointed and 
desultory ; they gave large license to the 
player, depending almost entirely on his per- 
sonal skill for their efficiency ; and, moreover, 
they were difficult to learn by the uninitiated. 
The new improvement, by establishing a def- 
inite foundation for the superstructure of 



74 THE PHILOSOPHICAL ERA 

play, brought Whist into an intelligible sys- 
tem, easy both to teach and to learn, and 
therefore tended to spread the knowledge of 
it over a much wider popular field. 

It will be desirable to explain how this 
change came about. We have in the last chap- 
ter traced the history of Whist to the early 
part of this century, when Short Whist was 
introduced. This change involved no material 
alteration of the modes of play, except per- 
haps a more careful attention to the state of 
" the score ;" but it induced a more lively in- 
terest in the game generally, which led ulti- 
mately to considerable advances in its char- 
acter. It became more played by persons of 
high intellect ; and hence by the constant 
practice of adepts in the highest club circles 
there gradually arose many improvements in 
detail. 

But nothing had been done to reduce these 
to a systematic form, or to make them gener- 
ally known. The secrets of these improve- 
ments, so far as they differed from the pre- 
cepts of Hoyle, Payne, and Matthews, were 
confined to small coteries of the best club 
players. Fortunately, however, for the pub- 
lic interest in Whist, a circumstance hap- 
pened somewhat similar to that which gave 
rise to the first development of the game by 



HISTORY.— " CAVENDISH " AND CLAY 75 

Hoyle. About 1850 a knot of young men at 
Cambridge, of considerable ability, who had 
at first taken up Whist for amusement, found 
it offer such a field for intellectual study, that 
they continued its practice systematically, 
with a view to its more complete scien- 
tific investigation. After leaving the Uni- 
versity a few years later they continued to 
meet in London, with some additions to their 
number, among whom was a brother of one 
of the original body, Mr. Henry Jones, then 
a medical student at St. Bartholomew's Hos- 
pital. 

This Little Whist School set to work to 
study Whist in good earnest. When four of 
them met, they used to play every hand 
through to the end for the sake of informa- 
tion, and also for the purpose of making cal- 
culations on the results. They wrote down 
the particulars of all interesting hands, and 
fully discussed them among themselves. 

They had, however, great advantages in 
a constant access to the principal members of 
the Portland Club, which had long been the 
great centre of Whist. They obtained from 
that body the results of their most advanced 
experience ; and any points of difficulty were 
written down and submitted to the late James 
Clay, M.P., a member of the club, who was 
then acknowledged as the first Whist player 



76 THE PHILOSOPHICAL ERA 

in Europe. The little body held together 
for some years, during which they investi- 
gated fully all the points of practice that the 
club players had arrived at, trying great 
numbers of experiments in the most scientific 
way, as their University knowledge dictated ; 
and they arrived at many trustworthy con- 
clusions. 

A great mass of information was thus 
gained, all the more valuable for the reason 
that it had been acquired by systematic ex- 
periment and philosophical deduction, in- 
stead of by inferences (often fallacious and 
always open to disturbing causes) from the 
results of play. All this information was 
carefully recorded and tabulated, but there 
was, at the time, no intention of publish- 
ing it. 1 

About i860 the members ceased to meet ; 
but fortunately the manuscripts in which the 
information was recorded, and which were 
somewhat voluminous, were preserved by 
Mr. Henry Jones. 

Still no one thought of making any of these 
valuable data known ; and the papers might 

1 Further particulars as to this part of the history will be found 
in " Harper's Monthly Magazine," New York, March, 1891 ; also 
in the " Whist " Journal, Milwaukee, October, 1893. Many of 
the results of the " Little Whist School " are mentioned and com- 
mented on in " The Philosophy of Whist." 



HISTORY. — " CAVENDISH " AND CLAY JJ 

never have seen the light again had it not 
been for an accident, in which the author of 
the present work was concerned. He had 
occasion to write an article entitled " Games 
at Cards for the Coming Winter," for Mac- 
millans Magazine, published in December, 
1861, the object being to describe the three 
games of Piquet, Quadrille, and Bezique (the 
latter being then unknown in this country). 
In writing these descriptions he found it con- 
venient to illustrate them by a plan which 
had often been adopted for chess, but (as he 
then believed) never for card games ; namely, 
by giving examples of games, or portions of 
games, with explanatory remarks, 1 and as he 
had found reason to think that the same plan 
would be useful for Whist, he added a note as 
follows : 

" It would be a great boon if some good authority would 
publish a set of Model Games at Whist, with explanatory 
remarks, such as are found so useful in Chess, for exam- 
ple." 

This note having caught the eye of Mr. 
Henry Jones, he wrote to the author, commu- 
nicating the fact of his possessing the store 
of notes of the Little School, from which he 
conceived some such model games might be 
prepared. This led to many communications 

1 See Appendix A. 



78 THE PHILOSOPHICAL ERA 

and discussions, the result of which was 
that Mr. Jones was induced to publish, about 
the middle of 1862, a little book with the fol- 
lowing title : 

" The Principles of Whist stated and explained, and the 
Practice illustrated on an Original System, by means of 
Hands played completely through. By ' Cavendish,' 
London, Banks Brothers, 20 Piccadilly." 

This book contained an exposition of the 
chief points of improvement which had been 
brought out since Matthews, and the novelty 
of the illustrations soon gave it a consider- 
able reputation. 

Two years afterwards appeared another 
most valuable work. Mr. Clay had been 
much interested in the discussions on Whist 
which had been carried on for some years, 
with very frequent reference to him ; and he 
took advantage of a publication by Mr. J. 
Loraine Baldwin, promulgating the new 
Code of Laws, to append to it " A Treatise 
on Short Whist." This was a most able dis- 
sertation on the more refined points of the 
best modern play, by one of the very best 
modern players. 

These two works now made public the 
chief improvements which had resulted from 



HISTORY. — " CAVENDISH " AND CLAY 79 

the scientific investigations, and the long 
practice, of the greatest minds that, since 
Deschapelles, had been brought to bear on 
the subject, and they embodied most admira- 
ble, ingenious, and authoritative modes of 
play. 

But still there was something wanting. 
" Cavendish," in addition to the examples 
which formed the chief raison d'etre of his 
book, had, in order to avoid repetition, 
erected some of the instructions into " prin- 
ciples," to which he referred as occasion re- 
quired ; and he also added a few elementary 
reasons for each line of play. But still the 
directions were isolated and heterogeneous ; 
there was no general cohesion ; no pervad- 
ing element ; no binding thread running 
through the whole. 

Here the author of the present work had 
the good fortune to be of some use again. 
He had had the privilege of much communi- 
tion with " Cavendish," had followed with 
great interest the revelations of this author 
and Mr. Clay, and had been much impressed 
by the developments made to Hoyle's game. 
And the ensemble of the whole joint body of 
rules and directions seemed to him so con- 
sistent and logical, that his scientific training 
led him to speculate whether it might not be 
possible to trace therein a deeper-lying ori- 



80 THE PHILOSOPHICAL ERA 

gin than even the originators of the new 
rules had suspected. They had been led to 
certain modes of play by acute observation 
and long experience ; but it did not occur to 
them that they had been insensibly deriving 
these results from a fundamental principle of 
action. . 

The author, therefore, studied carefully 
the whole programme of the play, particu- 
larly the more modern introductions and va- 
riations, and he found that these gave un- 
deniable evidence of a tendency towards a 
single great principle ; namely, the more per- 
fect cultivation than formerly of the relations 
between the partners, so as to effect as far as 
possible a combination of the hands, under the 
joint efforts of the partners to aid each other 
in the most effectual way. 

Under the impression that the publication 
of this discovery would not only be interest- 
ing to accomplished Whist players, but would 
be more especially useful as an aid to Whist 
education, he wrote an Essay " On the Theory 
of the Modern Scientific Game of Whist. By 
a Fellow of the Royal Society." It was first 
published in December, 1864, as accompany- 
ing a new edition of an old work, but it was 
republished separately by Messrs. Longman 
w T ith the author's name, in February, 1870, 
and the enormous circulation it has since had 



HISTORY. — " CAVENDISH " AND CLAY 8 1 

(partly in England but much more in Amer- 
ica), may probably be held to justify its men- 
tion here. 

About 1869 the same writer was induced 
(on suggestions given him by " Cavendish " 
and by his old friend Mr. G. P. Bidder, the 
well-known calculator), to turn his attention 
to the Calculation of Probabilities as affecting 
Whist and other card games. This subject 
had been studied (see pp. 66, 67) by Hoyle and 
Matthews; but had been since quite neglect- 
ed. He wrote many articles in the Field, and 
finding them remarkably confirmatory of the 
ideas he had previously made known as to 
the scientific foundation of the modern form 
of the game, he afterward published them in 
a work entitled " The Philosophy of Whist. 
An Essay on the Scientific and Intellectual 
aspects of the Modern Game." (De la Rue & 
Co. 1883.) 

It is right, however, to say that the idea of 
the great advantage of the combination of 
the hands of the two partners w r as not alto- 
gether new. 

The first time such an idea was broached 
was in a little book by a French Noble- 
man, published in Paris, with the following 
title : 

6 



82 THE PHILOSOPHICAL ERA 

" Genie du Whist, meconnu jusqu a present, quoique 
joue avec une espece de fureur par toute l'Euiope. Avec 
ses explications, et des maximes certaines pour gagner. 
Par le General Baron de Vautre. 
Paris. Ledoyers, Libraire, Palais Royal, 31, Galerie 
d'Orleans." 

The copy we have is the fourth edition, 
1847. It does not state when the book orig- 
inally appeared, but we find it quoted as a 
work well known in 1843. The Author says 
in his Preface : 

" The genius of whist has been misunderstood even by 
its inventor, who has established nothing beyond the laws 
and the course of play (les regies et la marche) ; and the 
numerous commentators who have written on the game 
have added nothing, because they have not thoroughly 
appreciated it." 

" A constant experience of more than twenty years, the 
results of which have been noted down consecutively 
month by month, has led the author to publish his maxims, 
which change the old ideas and the old method now prac- 
tised." 

" The clear explanations which the author of this little 
book presents, and the rules which he lays down, will give 
the certainty of winning every month, without exception, 
to the player who will learn how to practise them." 

" The author teaches the mode of playing with twenty- 
six cards (as he expresses it), and not with thirteen, like 
all the rest of the world." 

We do not know what influence this publi- 
cation may have had in France ; but we find 
that there were published, about 1854, a set 



HISTORY. — " CAVENDISH AND CLAY 83 

of Whist Rules in verse, entitled, Principcs 
ge'ne'ranx du Jeu de Whist. The second of 
these is as follows : 

" Montrez au partenaire en quoi vous etes fort, 
Et mariez vos jeux d'un mutuel accord." 

This would at any rate give us to believe 
that the idea in question was a matter of pop- 
ular knowledge. And as these lines are said 
to have been written by " Un General d'Ar- 
tillerie," it is quite possible that the two com- 
positions may have proceeded from the same 
hand. 

But the idea seems not to have been con- 
fined to France ; it spread to more distant 
parts of Europe, for it was taken up in Vi- 
enna ; and we find it repeated with much im- 
provement and elaboration in a work entitled 

" Das rationelle Whist ; oder das Whist-spiel mit alien 
seinen Abarten, vollstandig aus einem Princip nach der 
philosophischen und der mathematischen Wahrschein- 
lichkeit entwickelt und erhartet. 

" Nebst einem leicht fasslichen philosophischen Versuch 
iiber die mathematische W T ahrscheinlichkeit dieses Spiels. 

" Vom Ritter Ludwig von Coeckelbergle - Dutzele. 
Wien, 1843." 

This is a most remarkable book, and may 
be pronounced a very high class work on the 



84 THE PHILOSOPHICAL ERA 

game, in an intellectual point of view. The 
motto, taken from Schiller : 

" Den lauten Markt mag Momus unterhalten 
Ein edler Sinn liebt edlere Gestalten," 

and an exhortation introduced elsewhere, 

" Que le Whist soit un jeu, et non pas un jouet," 

show the author's high estimation of the 
game. And a quotation from Virgil, 

" Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas," 

explains his thorough capability of describ- 
ing it. 

He lays great stress on the advantage of 
combining the hands of the two partners, 
and he devotes one long chapter expressly 
to what he calls Verstandigungsspicl ; i.e., the 
system of mutual understanding established 
between the partners by their play. 

The following passage, taken from this 
chapter, gives a clear idea of the great mod- 
ern principle we are now describing : 

" In order to make the best and most advantageous use 
of your own as well as of your partner's hand, you must 
endeavour to find out what his cards are, and to afford 
him similar information as to your own. Both these ob- 
jects are effected by what is called the language of the 
cards {Kartensprache), or the art of signalling {Signal- 
kunst). The cards selected to be played serve, by their 



HISTORY. — " CAVENDISH " AND CLAY 85 

relative values, as telegraphic signs, by which the two 
partners carry on a reciprocal communication, and convey 
indications as to what cards they hold, as well as sugges- 
tions of their respective views and wishes. By this means 
they are enabled to give better support to each other, to 
calculate more easily the chances of the game, and to 
anticipate more correctly the effect of any particular play. 
" The conduct of your hand should be as clear as pos- 
sible towards your partner, but towards the adversary 
it may be equivocal and deceptive. The former course 
should be usually followed, especially when the chief di- 
rection of the play lies with yourself or your partner ; the 
deceptive practice should only be resorted to when the 
adversaries have the command, or when it is obvious that 
your partner is thoroughly weak, and that your informa- 
tion can be of no use to him. In general, however, false 
indications, which of course mislead your partner as well 
as the adversaries, should be used very sparingly; the 
most advantageous system is to approach as nearly as 
possible to the ever-honest dummy, who deceives nobody, 
and yet in the long run proves the best player." 

The writer of this work was an Austrian 
nobleman, of a family eminent for their liter- 
ary ability. The brother, Ritter Charles 
Coeckelberghle - Diitzele, wrote a celebrated 
" History of the Austrian Empire," in five 
volumes, which was published by the same 
firm as the Whist book ; namely, C. Ger- 
old's Sohn. It is believed the brothers 
were both Government officials, and as this 
period included the most active period of life 
of Prince Metternich, who was notoriously 



86 THE PHILOSOPHICAL ERA 

an enthusiastic Whist player, the book before 
us may be supposed to be the outcome of 
the highest intelligence in that great capital. 1 

But these promulgations of the idea of co- 
operation produced no lasting result, and 
were soon forgotten. The reason of this is 
now obvious. In order to carry the idea out 
into practice it was necessary to overhaul 
the whole body of rules; to inquire how they 
bore on the proposed plan, and if they were 
unfavourable, to see whether and how they 
could be altered to correspond with it, with- 
out detriment to their original object. This 
was really the work done by the refined club 
players, and the clever Little Whist School, 
in the time of the elaboration of the system 
we are now describing, and its result was 
what we have already told. 

The new form of game soon began to at- 
tract the attention of the intellectual public, 
as was manifested especially by extended dis- 
cussions of the subject in some of the best 
critical periodicals. 

In April, 1869, there appeared in Frascrs 
Magazine a long and excellent article " On 
Whist and Whist Players " by one of the 

1 It is right to say that this book only became known to the au- 
thor in 1870 when he was writing the article in the Quarterly Re- 
view. 



HISTORY. — " CAVENDISH " AND CLAY 87 

most eminent literary men of the day, Abra- 
ham Hayward, who spoke highly of the new 
improvements ; and shortly afterwards the 
author of the present book was engaged to 
write a full description of the Modern Game 
for the Quarterly Review, in performing which 
duty he had the kind advice and assistance 
of " Cavendish " and Mr. Clay. The article, 
entitled " Modern Whist," appeared in the 
number for January, 1871, and, by the con- 
sent of the publisher, has been used freely in 
the present work. 

THE LAWS. 

About the middle of the century a step 
was taken of great importance, namely, the 
amendment and public establishment of the 
Lazvs of Whist. This was due to the energy 
of a well-known club player, Mr. John Loraine 
Baldwin. He suggested to the Hon. George 
Anson (one of the most accomplished Whist 
players of the day) that as the supremacy of 
Short Whist had become an acknowledged 
fact, a revision and reformation of the laws 
would confer a great boon on Whist players 
generally. 

Hoyle had originally laid down a set of 
laws, which, considering the time and cir- 
cumstances, were very sagacious and very 



88 THE PHILOSOPHICAL ERA 

creditable to him ; and these had been per- 
petuated, with certain slight modifications, 
in 1760 by the members of White's and Saun- 
ders's chocolate houses. At a later date, 
Deschapelles added an elaborate treatise on 
the principles which should guide Whist 
legislation. But there was no satisfactory 
authorized code, and the consequence was 
that disputes and doubtful points were con- 
stantly occurring, which had to be referred 
to the most esteemed players for decision. 
Mr. Baldwin and his friend, although fully 
aware that a more satisfactory and authori- 
tative code was required, were also conscious 
that, in persuading the Whist world to adopt 
any innovation on old rules, they must en- 
counter a certain amount of difficulty and 
trouble, with a very uncertain chance of suc- 
cess. 

In subsequent years, having witnessed 
many questionable cases which, despite the 
existence of Hoyle and other authors, were 
invariably referred to the Whist players of 
the day, Mr. Baldwin determined to make an 
effort, and appeal to some of the London 
clubs for their assistance and support. This 
was willingly granted, and in May, 1863, 
one of the chief Whist clubs, the Arlington 
(since called the Turf) Club, appointed a 
committee of nine gentlemen, with the late 



HISTORY.—' 4 CAVENDISH " AND CLAY 89 

Mr. Clay, as chairman, to co-operate with Mr. 
Baldwin in the matter. 

The committee having prepared a code, 
sent it to the other most important Whist 
club, the Portland. A committee of that club, 
presided over by the late Mr. H. D. Jones, 
carefully considered the rules, and offered 
certain suggestions, which were agreed to by 
the other body ; and on April 30, 1864, the 
code was formally adopted by the Arlington 
Club, on a resolution signed by the Duke of 
Beaufort, the chairman. 

The code was immediately published as 
" The Laws of Short Whist, edited by 
J. L. Baldwin;" and was dedicated, by per- 
mission, to His Royal Highness the Prince 
of Wales. It was at once adopted by the 
principal clubs, and has ever since been the 
standard authority on Whist law in England. 

But the details are not perfect, as cases of 
doubt often arise ; and a few years ago, when 
the American Whist League was established 
for regulating the Whist play in the United 
States, they recognized the imperfections of 
the English code, and devoted much atten- 
tion to the preparation of revised Laws suit- 
able to their mode of playing the game. See 
Appendix C. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE PHILOSOPHICAL GAME 

It is now necessary to give some descrip- 
tion of the game which formed this stage of 
the Evolution of Whist, and which may be 
said to have been first published to the world 
between i860 and 1870. 

The basis of it was, as has been stated, the 
Game of Hoyle ; and it contained all the good 
features of the latter ; but it had the advan- 
tage over it of a systematic consolidation and 
reduction to philosophical principles, and 
of some general improvements consequent 
thereon. 

It is not our business here to repeat the 
detailed rules of play, for which the well- 
known text-books of the time must be re- 
ferred to ; it must suffice to explain the chief 
principles involved, and to give a general idea 
how they were applied. And in this we may 
be guided by the contemporary account in 
the Quarterly Review of 1871, which was pre- 
pared for a similar purpose. 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL GAME 91 



FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES, AND GENERAL VIEW 
OF THEIR APPLICATION. 

The great feature of this form of the game 
consists in the more perfect cultivation, than 
formerly, of the relations existing between 
the two players who are in partnership with 
each other. As these players have a com- 
munity of interests, it is evidently desirable 
that they should act in conjunction. If the 
two hands could be put together and played 
as one, great advantage would clearly result ; 
for not only would the strong points of each 
still preserve their full value, but special 
benefits would arise from the combination ; 
just as the junction and co-operation of two 
divisions of an army would give more power- 
ful results than could be obtained by their 
divided action. The form of game we are 
now describing has for its essence the more 
full and perfect use of this principle. When 
you look at your hand you must consider it, 
not as an individual entity, but as a part of a 
combination, to the joint interests of which 
your whole play must conduce. 

It might be supposed that as the partner- 
ship was so obvious, the combination of the 
hands would be a natural consequence (and 
indeed a distinct notion of it was given by 



92 THE PHILOSOPHICAL ERA 

the Crown Coffee House students), but it 
was only by the earnest study of the Club 
players and of the Little School, after a cen- 
tury and a quarter's existence of the simple 
Hoyle Game, that the combination principle 
became fully established and applied. It was 
then found that many of the former rules, 
though properly adapted for a single hand, 
did not lend themselves thoroughly to the 
combination ; and the chief object that occu- 
pied the improvers was to examine them 
completely, and so to treat them as to make 
the combination the foundation of the system, 
instead of a mere accident of play. 

We have next to see how this great prin- 
ciple is made applicable. *In the first place, 
in order that the combination may be prop- 
erly effected, it is requisite that each partner 
should adopt the same general principle of 
treating his hand ; for there are several dif- 
ferent modes of trick-making, according to 
which a player may regulate the general de- 
sign of his play. These have all been subject 
to full and careful discussion, and it is clearly 
demonstrable that the only system which 
adapts itself favourably to the combination 
of the hands, is that of endeavouring to make 
tricks by " establishing " and " bringing in " 
a long suit. This was one of the devices well 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL GAME 93 

known in Hoyle's Game, but was only subor- 
dinate in general play, whereas now it takes 
the most prominent position. 

It is easy to trace how all the more impor- 
tant rules of the modern game arise out of 
this principle. Take for instance the manage- 
ment of trumps, which was, under the old 
forms, a great stumbling-block to ill-educated 
players. It is obvious that the chief obstacle 
to making long suits is their being ruffed, 
and that the advantage will be with that 
party who, having predominant numerical 
strength in trumps, can succeed in drawing 
those of the adversaries. Five trumps are 
generally sufficient for the purpose ; and 
hence the rule, that if you hold this number, 
or more, you should lead them. Three or 
four leads will usually disarm both opponents, 
and you will still have one or more left to 
bring in your own or your partner's long suit, 
and to stop those of the enemy. So impor- 
tant is the trump lead on this ground that 
the old-fashioned objection to " lead up to an 
honour " as well as the direction to " lead 
through an honour," both vanish under the 
Philosophical system. Either is right if you 
are strong in trumps ; neither if otherwise. 

If you hold only four trumps the case is 
much changed by your smaller preponder- 
ance ; and the calculation of probabilities 



94 THE PHILOSOPHICAL ERA 

shows a much diminished chance of a success- 
ful result. It is usually recommended that 
you should not lead trumps from four with- 
out having a plain suit established, either by 
yourself or your partner. 

With three trumps or less, which is nu- 
merical weakness, a trump lead at the begin- 
ning of the hand is seldom justifiable. The 
normal application of trumps when weak is 
to use them on the old plan for ruffing, if they 
escape being drawn by the adversary. 

It is imperative that your trump lead be 
returned by your partner the first oppor- 
tunity. Hesitation in this is inexcusable, as 
endangering the great benefit your own 
strength would confer on the combined 
hands. 

Several minor rules in regard to trumps 
are deducible from the same principles. For 
example, it is very disadvantageous for a 
strong trump hand to be forced to ruff, which 
wastes its strength unworthily. Hence you 
must avoid forcing your partner if, being 
weak yourself, you have reason to suspect he 
may be strong. But you should force a 
strong adverse trump hand whenever you 
can. Again, if you are second player to a 
trick which it is possible your partner may 
win, and have none of the suit yourself, the 
new principles teach you to ruff fearlessly if 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL GAME 95 

weak in trumps, but to pass the trick if 
strong. In the former case your trumps are 
useless for their higher object; in the latter 
they are too valuable to risk losing unneces- 
sarily. 

When we come to the play of plain suits 
we must call to our guidance another matter 
which has formed an essential element in the 
Philosophical Game, namely, the considera- 
tion of Probability. At the beginning of the 
hand you know nothing of your partner's 
cards, and your earliest lead must be guided, 
not only by the cards you hold, but by what 
will most probably benefit the combination with 
your partner, and will at the same time also 
be the least likely to favour your opponents. 

Hoyle had penetration enough to see this, 
and he made considerable use of the laws of 
probability in his teaching. Matthews also 
alluded to them, as has been stated on page 
67. The Vienna book mentioned in chapter 
V. contained a fair essay on the subject; but 
no earnest attention was given to it in this 
country until it was taken up by the author of 
the present work, who in 1883 published a 
Treatise 1 with the view of reviving it. The 

1 " The Philosophy of Whist," De la Rue & Co. It was in 
this book that the term " Philosophical Game " was first applied to 
the form of Whist here treated of. 



g6 THE PHILOSOPHICAL ERA 

following short extracts may illustrate the 
views there taken. 

" It may, perhaps, be thought that the existence of the 
element of chance to such a large extent in Whist tends 
to lower its intellectual character, as compared with other 
games, such as Chess, which engage only mental skill. 
Elaborate comparisons have been made of the interest 
offered in the two cases, respectively, but the nature of 
the mental occupation is very different, and, so far as one 
can judge by experience and observation, no such inferi- 
ority exists. The element of chance, so far from standing 
in the way of intellectual exercise, is what chiefly gives 
the opportunity for it. It can be amply shewn that the 
calculations, provisions, and speculations arising out of the 
many uncertainties occurring in Whist play, furnish the 
most important objects for scientific investigation, as well 
as the best inducements for the application of personal 
judgment and skill. 

" In reality it is the happy combination of chance and 
skill that makes the game so generally attractive and 
popular. The influence of chance on the scoring is of 
two kinds — partly absolute and partly dependent on the 
play. In the case of honours the simple possession of 
certain cards counts directly towards game, but the result 
of a favourable chance distribution of cards for trick- 
making is largely dependent on the management of them. 
It is very common for high cards to be lost, and it is one 
of the chief efforts of good players to make low cards 
win. 

" At the commencement of a hand the player is in the 
difficult position that he is in entire ignorance of what 
would be really the most advantageous thing for him to 
do. But if he is a wise man he will not act at random. 
Although he cannot foresee what is the best thing to be 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL GAME 97 

done, he may at least, by careful consideration, form a 
judgment of what may probably be the most likely course 
to be beneficial to himself and his partner, and the least 
likely to turn to the advantage of the adversaries. This 
invocation of probability as a guide in obscure parts of 
the play is what formed the great merit of Hoyle's teach- 
ing at the very birth of intelligent Whist, and it is what 
now distinguishes the educated systematic player from 
the untaught beginner, or the more presumptuous (but not 
less ignorant) pretender who glories in playing accord- 
ing to his own fancy." x 

The treatise here quoted from shows how 
admirably the calculation of probabilities fits 
in with the combined form of game ; almost 
all the rules, arrived at practically by the im- 
provers, being shown to be consistent with 
the doctrine of chances, as determined by 
philosophical reasoning. It is unnecessary 
here to go further into this matter ; but it is 
a very desirable study for all who would 
really understand the principles of modern 
Whist play. 

To return to the management of plain suits. 
The most important step is your first plain 
suit lead ; and here the doctrine of probabil- 
ities has fully established the system, as al- 
ready stated, of leading from the longest suit, 
which fulfils all the most favourable condi- 
tions. It is a lead which, even in ignorance 

1 Ibid., pages 3, 4, 11, 12. 
7 



98 THE PHILOSOPHICAL ERA 

of the partner's cards, may be reasonably ex- 
pected to benefit the combined hands and 
not to favour the adversaries ; and it serves 
to give the most direct and useful informa- 
tion to the partner as to the cards held by 
the leader. 

The question which card of your long suit 
you should first lead has also been fully in- 
vestigated. As a general principle it is ex- 
pedient to begin with a small card, which 
gives your partner the chance of making the 
first trick, and enables you to keep the com- 
plete command at a later period. But when 
you hold several high cards this principle is 
subject to modification by the possibility of 
the suit being trumped, and by some other 
contingencies, and therefore certain definite 
leads were determined for particular com- 
binations, of which the following were the 
most useful. 

FIRST LEADS FROM A LONG PLAIN SUIT 

{according to the Philosophical Game 1870). 



HOLDING. 


LEAD. 


Ace and King, 


King. 


King and Queen, 


King. 


Ace, Queen, Knave, 


Ace then Queen. 


Queen, Knave, ten, 


Queen. 


King, Knave, ten, 


Ten. 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL GAME 99 

All these were dictated by special motives, 
founded on the general principles of this form 
of game. 

The combined system further defines the 
duty of your partner in helping you in regard 
to your long suit. In addition to showing you 
his own, it is his duty to return yours, but 
much depends upon what card he plays. In 
the first place he must get rid of the com- 
mand, by playing out the master cards if he 
holds them ; for it is essential that you retain 
the superiority. Then, secondly, he must 
adopt what is called " strengthening play," 
by sacrificing his high cards in the suit to 
strengthen you. Suppose, for example, he 
had originally ace, knave, and four, and has 
won your first lead with the ace ; he must 
return the knave and not the four. The re- 
sult of this is to raise the effective rank of any 
lower cards you hold in the suit, and to aid 
in getting higher ones out of the way, so as 
to hasten your obtaining the complete com- 
mand. 

So much for the lead and the return of it. 
But the system affects also the other players. 
In the older game, for example, the second 
player might often feel at liberty to put on a 
high card ; but by the newer doctrine he is 
bound generally to play his lowest, and to re- 
tain high cards which may, later on, block 



100 THE PHILOSOPHICAL ERA 

the leader's suit, and so prevent its establish- 
ment. 

The third hand, under this system, is for- 
bidden to do what he might often have legit- 
imately done before, namely finesse (except 
with ace and queen) to his partner's original 
lead ; as the high cards are wanted out of 
the way. 

The system also guides the discard, which 
should usually be made from short or weak 
suits, not from long ones. The cards of the 
former are of little use, while those of the 
latter may be very valuable, even to the 
smallest you have. 

COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE PARTNERS. 

We must now notice, at some length, what 
is probably the most important element in 
this form of game, namely, the modes of com- 
munication between the partners. For if the 
two hands are to be combined and played as 
one, it is evident that the partners must use 
every legal means of gaining information as 
to the contents of each other's hands. Indeed, 
we have said that the attainment of this was 
the great object aimed at in the elaboration 
of the game. 

In the ordinary form of Whist, each player 
is supposed to be quite ignorant of what (bar- 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL GAME IOI 

ring the turn-up-card) the three other hands 
contain ; and ever since the days of Hoyle it 
has been one of the chief objects of the skill 
and intelligence of the player to discover 
anything he can as to their contents. But it 
must be specially his desire to get information 
as to his partner's hand, as on that he has to 
found his advantageous system of play. And 
hence there is every inducement for the part- 
ners to give one another as much information 
as they can, consistently with an honourable 
adherence to the ethical constitution of the 
game. 

We gain some information on this latter 
point in a work of the highest authority, 
namely, " Paley's Moral Philosophy,'' pub- 
lished in 1785, some sixteen years after the 
death of Hoyle. The author devotes Chap- 
ter VIII. to what he calls " Contracts of 
Hazard," meaning " gaming and insurance." 
He says : 

" The proper restriction is that neither side have an ad- 
vantage, by means of which the other is not aware, for 
this is an advantage taken without being given. If I sit 
down to a game at Whist, and have an advantage over the 
adversary by means of a better memory, closer attention, 
or a superior knowledge of the rules and chances of the 
game, the advantage is fair. 

" But if I gain an advantage by packing the cards, 
glancing my eye into the adversaries' hands, or by con- 



102 THE PHILOSOPHICAL ERA 

certed signals with my partner, it is a dishonest advantage, 
because it depends upon means which the adversary never 
suspects that I make use of." 



We may take it for granted, therefore, as 
admitted among honest players, that no one 
should have any means of knowing what his 
partner holds except by means equally avail- 
able to the whole table. 

When the Club players and the Little 
Whist School were evolving the Philosophi- 
cal Game they found, on examination, that the 
various means formerly available for gather- 
ing information in this way were capable of 
much improvement. They therefore care- 
fully revised all the rules of play with the 
double view : not only that they should best 
favour the trick-making powers of the com- 
bination, but also that they should convey 
the maximum of positive information possible 
to the partner. 

The result, as displayed in the Philosophi- 
cal Game, has been a marvel of constructive 
skill ; and it will be interesting to show by 
what means the desired purpose has been 
carried out, or in other words, how the in- 
formation as to the hands is transmitted by 
the cards played. 

The chief source is by each partner's per- 
fect acquaintance with the ordinary rules of 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL GAME 103 

play, as prompted by general expediency. 
Every well-established rule for the play of a 
card implies some combination which renders 
that play desirable ; and consequently, when 
I see my partner's card I, trusting to his 
having been guided by the rule, can see, in 
my mind's eye, the existence of that probable 
combination in his hand. 

The manner of " drawing inferences " in 
this way from the cards played, has been so 
often explained, and Tables of Inferences 
are given in so many Whist books, that it 
is needless to enlarge upon these matters 
here. It will suffice to quote a few exam- 
ples. 1 

Take your partner's first lead, and see what 
are some of the probable messages conveyed 
to you by this one card. 

If he leads a trump, he tells you he is strong in trumps, 
and wants them drawn. 

If he leads a plain suit, he tells you he is not very strong 
in trumps, but that the suit lead is the best in his hand ; 
that he holds four or more cards in it, and wants to 
establish it and bring it in. 

If his first lead in it is the King, he tells you he has 
either Ace or Queen also, perhaps both. 

If it is the Ace followed by the Queen he tells you he 
has the Knave also. 

If it is the Queen, you infer he holds also the Knave 
and ten. 

1 Extracted from " The Philosophy of Whist," page 60. 



104 THE PHILOSOPHICAL ERA 

If it is the ten, you infer he has most probably the King 
and Knave. 

If it is a small card, he tells you he has none of the com- 
binations which would require him to lead a high one. 

Or suppose your partner is returning your 
suit. In this he is acting on information 
given by you. You will see what his mode 
of play probably tells you. 

If he does not lead out the master card he tells you he 
does not hold it ; and if not in your own hand, you there- 
fore know it is against you. 

If he leads any card, afterwards dropping a lower one, 
he tells you he has then no more of the suit. 

If he leads any card, and afterwards drops a higher one, 
he tells you he has still another left. 

And so on through multitudes of other 
cases. By your knowledge of the motives 
which have guided the play of the card, the 
card itself reveals the facts implied in such 
motives. 

But independently of inferences of this 
kind, the system of the Philosophical Game 
takes cognizance of minor points and pas- 
sive operations, prescribing greater care and 
strictness in what were thought, formerly, 
unimportant matters. 

For example, a player would, in the prim- 
itive time, pay little attention to the man- 
agement of small or useless cards. Mat- 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL GAME 105 

thews endeavoured to correct this fault. He 
said : 

" Be as careful of what you throw away as what you lead ; 
it is often of bad consequence to put down a tray with a 
deuce in your hand." 

And he goes on to show that by such care- 
lessness you deceive your partner, destroy 
his confidence in you, and prevent him from 
playing his game properly. 

And if this carefulness was considered 
necessary in the former era, how much more 
so must it be in the Philosophical Game, 
where the communication between the part- 
ners is the essential principle in its structure. 
If a card is to be thrown away it must be the 
lowest card possible ; it will tell your partner 
you have not a lower one properly available, 
and so may help him to count your hand. 

If the two lowest cards of the suit you 
throw away from are in sequence, say the six 
and the five, you must not suppose, that be- 
cause they are of equal value to you it is a 
matter of indifference which you play, you 
must strictly adhere to the rule and throw 
away the five, to prevent your partner from 
drawing a wrong inference. 

This example leads to a consideration of 
the play of Sequences ; generally a matter of 



106 THE PHILOSOPHICAL ERA 

great importance in giving information. 
The cards of a sequence in the same hand 
are called " indifferent cards," because in the 
matter of trick-winning they are of equal 
value. But it is not at all indifferent how 
they should be played. 

Hoyle said : " Sequences are eligible leads, 
of which play the highest card ; " for an 
obvious reason, namely, to prevent your part- 
ner from putting on the next highest. And 
this, subject to special exceptions, has re- 
mained the general rule. 

The play of sequences, when not leading, 
was not well defined in the early days of 
Whist. Hoyle scarcely mentions it. Payne, 
in several Maxims, directs that the lowest 
card should be played second hand, but does 
not lay stress on it as a general rule. Mat- 
thews was the first person to see the great 
importance of care in this particular, and he 
brings it specially forward in his Preface as 
an example of right teaching. He says: 

" When the beginner reads, that with two or more of a 
sequence to his partner's lead (as King and Queen) he 
should put on the lowest, he does so, or not, generally 
without thinking it material. But after he is made to com- 
prehend that his Queen's passing demonstrates to his part- 
ner that the King cannot be in his left hand adversary's 
hand, or the Knave in his, and the consequent advantages 
to him in playing his suit (whereas if he puts on the King 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL GAME 10/ 

it leaves him in ignorance as to the Queen and Knave), 
he will never after err in those cases, and will also know 
how to profit by similar correctness in his future partners." 

In Matthews's Maxim 52, he further says: 

" When your partner leads, win with the lowest of a 
sequence, to demonstrate your strength in his suit." 

We have here, therefore, a positive rule, 
formed on the principle of uniformity, like 
the play of small cards. It is indifferent, so 
far as trick-making is concerned, which card 
of the sequence I take the trick with ; but 
since in other cases I should win with the 
lowest card possible, I follow the same prin- 
ciple here, in order that my partner may 
draw the same inference, namely, that I have 
no card capable of winning the trick lower 
than the one I play. 

When the Philosophical Game came in, 
the mode of playing sequences, from its con- 
stant recurrence in almost every hand, be- 
came of much greater importance, and Mat- 
thews's rule was accordingly laid down more 
emphatically. In " The Laws and Practice 
of Whist," by " Caelebs," published in 1851, 
the author said : 

" It being an axiom to lead the highest of a sequence, but 
to follow suit with the lowest, it follows that a player does 
not hold the next inferior card to that with which he fol- 
lows suit." 



108 THE PHILOSOPHICAL ERA 

And " Cavendish/' in his first edition, makes 
a separate heading " Win with the lowest of 
a sequence/' And so the rule has always 
prevailed. 

There is another case of indifferent cards 
somewhat analogous to the play of se- 
quences. Payne (Maxim 8 of general Rules) 
said : 

" In returning your partner's lead play the best you 
have, when you held but three originally." 

This is clearly with the object of strength- 
ening the partner in his strong suit (see page 
99). But suppose after winning my part- 
ner's lead with the Ace, I have left two in- 
different cards, the eight and the seven, which 
ought I to return him ? Clearly the eight, in 
order to preserve the uniform application of 
the rule by which I profess to be guided. 

There are occasionally cases of erratic or 
abnormal play, devised on the spur of the 
moment, for the special information of the 
partner on some particular point. Examples 
of these are as old as Hoyle and Matthews, 
but as they form no part of any regular sys- 
tem of play they do not require further no- 
tice here. The communications above de- 
scribed constitute the ordinary sources of in- 
formation between the partners, and it will 
be seen how simple and efficient they are. 



TH£ PHILOSOPHICAL GAME IO9 

And if due attention is paid to the cards 
played, and the proper logical inferences are 
drawn therefrom, it is astonishing what an 
insight an observant player may obtain into 
the hand of his partner. Clay meant this 
when he said, " Whist is a language, and 
every card played is an intelligible sen- 
tence." The first chapter of his excellent 
Treatise is devoted entirely to explaining it, 
and indeed the sentiment appears again and 
again throughout the volume. 

THE PHILOSOPHICAL GAME IN ITS EDUCATIONAL 

ASPECTS. 

Returning now to the Philosophical Game 
as a whole, its description cannot fail, we 
should think, to impress the reader with the 
high intellectual place it occupies in Whist 
Evolution. It is not likely to be dethroned, 
for, after a quarter of a century's experience, 
the only alterations have been more studious 
attention to detail, and improvements conse- 
quent thereon; so that this game must, so 
far as we yet know, always continue to be 
learned as the foundation for more advanced 
play. 

And we may in conclusion point out that 
one of the greatest merits in this form of the 
game is the facility with which it lends itself 



IIO THE PHILOSOPHICAL ERA 

to instruction. The simple Hoyle game was 
a most difficult thing both to teach and to 
learn. The great master did not profess to 
teach it by book ; he knew well how difficult 
this would be ; his aim was to teach it per- 
sonally, and his book was originally only a 
number of notes or memoranda to enable his 
pupils to treasure up his oral explanations. 
For this reason it is not possible for a learner 
to gather from the volume any sort of sys- 
tematic understanding of the game. All he 
finds is an assemblage of maxims, rules, and 
examples of situations, which will be useful 
enough in isolated circumstances, but which 
give him no grasp of any general line of 
conduct, and which he will have trouble to 
recollect when they require to be applied. 

Payne and Matthews certainly much im- 
proved the arrangement ; but still, after all, 
the instruction derived from the three was 
but a mass of good material, which did not 
assume the form of a structure. 

The improved game, as it is now pub- 
lished in categorical description, presents 
a totally different appearance. Continuing 
the metaphor, we may say that the student 
will find that there is first laid a wide and 
firm foundation on which the whole struc- 
ture rests ; and over that we may trace, 
even in its minutest details, a general con- 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL GAME III 

sistent and intelligible design, in conformity 
with which the whole building, fitly framed 
together, grows into a magnificent temple 
of usefulness and beauty. 

And this is eminently teachable. We can 
first give the student a clear general idea of 
what he has to do, and then can explain to 
him step by step how he is to set about it; 
how to begin, and how to proceed; what 
help to ask for and what to afford ; what 
precautions to take, what dangers to look 
for, and what perils to avoid ; how to make 
the most of good fortune and how to palli- 
ate adversity. And then, with such a prep- 
aration as this, he w T ill be far better able 
to appreciate and to utilize the precepts and 
maxims of the great teachers who went be- 
fore. 

In this way the high-class game, which 
formerly from its intricacy and difficulty 
was confined to persons of superior mental 
power, has become accessible to almost any- 
one of ordinary education and moderate in- 
telligence. This is no fiction. It is matter 
of common knowledge that since the publi- 
cation of the descriptions of this game it 
has been learned and played by thousands 
where probably only tens would have learned 
the game of Hoyle, and perhaps would have 
played it indifferently after all. And it is 



112 THE PHILOSOPHICAL ERA 

also a very remarkable fact that while the 
Hoyle game was proverbially considered 
only appropriate to the vieillesse of humanity, 
it is now a favorite study of vigorous youth. 
Young ladies now play it with pleasure, and 
there is a case on record of a little girl, un- 
der seven years of age, who, having been 
properly taught, could go through the for- 
malities of the modern game with tolerable 
correctness, and made a very fair partner to 
an older player. 

The plan of teaching, according to these 
views, would be as follows : The student 
should be recommended, in the first instance, 
not to trouble himself with the elaborations 
of advanced play ; they are for his seniors, 
and will only puzzle him. He should first be 
instructed in the general theoretical design 
of the game, and then should be shown some 
application of its principles in the simplest 
possible form. He must, of course, be told 
that such brief rules admit of many excep- 
tions, variations, and amplifications, which 
he will learn hereafter ; but, in the meantime, 
they may give him a general idea of the most 
important points to be attended to. 

Take, for example, such a little batch as 
the following (slightly modified from a set in 
the Quarterly Reviezv) : 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL GAME 113 

THE PHILOSOPHICAL GAME OF WHIST. 
A FEW SHORT MEMORANDA VOR BEGINNERS. 

" I. Lead from your most numerous suit. 

2. Begin with a low card, unless you hold certain speci- 
fied combinations of high cards which dictate specific 
leads. 

3. If your partner has shown you his long suit, recollect 
that he will wish also to see yours ; but whether you 
should lead it before returning his, will be a matter for 
experience and judgment. 

4. In returning your partner's suit, if you have only two 
left, return the highest ; if more the lowest. 

5. But in any position, if you hold the best card, play it 
the second round. 

6. Second-hand, generally play your lowest. 

7. Holding five trumps, lead them ; or if your partner 
has led trumps, return them as early as possible. 

8. Do not trump a doubtful trick second-hand if you 
hold more than three trumps ; with three or less trump 
fearlessly. 

9. Do not force your partner if you hold less than four 
trumps yourself ; but force a strong adverse trump hand 
whenever you can. 

10. Discard from your weakest suit. 

11. If not leading, always play the lowest of a se- 
quence. 

12. Be very accurate in the play of even your smallest 
cards." 

Such rules as these may be easily com- 
mitted by the student to memory, and will 
serve to guide his earliest practice. Objec- 



114 THE PHILOSOPHICAL ERA 

tions have often been made to the imperfec- 
tions of such rules, but experience has shown 
that they have served to give a good start to 
multitudes of persons who have afterwards 
become accomplished players. And not only 
l that, but they have induced multitudes of 
other persons to like and play the game, 
who without them would not have learned it 
at all. 

After a little practice in this initiatory 
way, the earnest student may be inducted 
into further practical details ; and as he goes 
on he will come in contact with abundance 
of special situations and difficulties that re- 
quire his study. Information on such points 
formed the staple teaching of the Hoyle 
Game, and the Philosophical Game has in 
no wise superseded it, but has rather in- 
creased the facility of its application. Such 
matters are treated of fully in many good 
Whist-teaching books, and do not require 
further notice here. 



PART IV 
LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 



CHAPTER VII 

MODERN SIGNALLING 
THE GERM 

It might have been thought that in the 
Philosophical Game, Whist had arrived at 
about the most perfect state it was capable 
of ; and speaking generally, this would seem 
true. For, as regards the main structure, 
there has been nothing to alter, and it re- 
mains, and probably must long remain, the 
standard Whist Game. 

But, nevertheless, the principle of Evolu- 
tion has still been at work, not on the main 
form, but on the details. For, during the last 
few years, there has been a gradual intro- 
duction of a subordinate development which, 
although still only in a state of transition, has 
attracted so much attention, and has obtained 
so many earnest adherents, that it demands a 
conspicuous place in our record of progress. 
It had partly its origin in America, and has 
been taken up so warmly among high-class 
Whist circles in the United States, that it has 



Il8 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

become the chief feature in the Whist of that 
country. 

The alterations have reference entirely to 
the further improvement of the communica- 
tions between the partners, which we have 
pointed out as so prominent and so impor- 
tant in the structure of the Philosophical 
Game. Adepts had found these improved 
communications so powerful in Whist play, 
that they endeavoured to carry them further, 
and their efforts have led to results of a very 
extended character. 

It was only about the year 1885 that these 
developments began to attract general notice, 
but the germ of them had existed for a long 
time previously. And it is no uncommon 
thing in the history of evolutionary pro- 
cesses, that a variation may originate and 
continue in a minor stage of existence long 
before it propagates itself sufficiently to give 
rise to a new species noticed by the world. 

To explain this intelligibly we must take up 
again the subject of communication between 
the partners, where we left it in Chapter VI. 
We there described the most obvious and 
general modes of conveying information ; but 
during the efforts that were being made at the 
London Clubs to improve the game, a new 
contrivance arose, of such importance as to 



MODERN SIGNALLING. — THE GERM 1 19 

command the earnest attention of all Whist 
players. It was called the Signal for Trumps. 

Under the Philosophical System, then in 
process of incubation, it was found that a 
prompt lead of trumps was often of great 
importance. An expert might see from his 
own hand, and from the fall of the cards, that 
such a lead would benefit the joint hands 
considerably, but he might not have an early 
power of getting the lead himself, and he 
would think it most desirable if he could, by 
any legal means, get his partner to lead them 
for him. The desire at last led to the accom- 
plishment, and the " Signal for Trumps " 
came in. 

Clay describes it as follows : 

" It consists in throwing away an unnecessarily high 
card. Thus, if you have the deuce and three of a suit 
of which two rounds are played, by playing the three to 
the first round and the deuce to the second, you have sig- 
nified to your partner your wish that he should lead a 
trump as soon as he gets the lead. The same with any 
other higher card played unnecessarily before a lower." * 

He further states (writing about 1864), that 
this signal was first introduced some thirty 
years before at Graham's Club, 2 which was 

1 A Treatise on Short Whist, by James Clay. De la Rue's 
edition, page 109. 

2 In " Whist," Vol. III., p. 156, Cavendish mentions a curious 
custom, in the Old Long Whist, of a certain intentional irregu- 



120 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

then the greatest of Card Clubs, but was dis- 
solved soon afterwards. Its invention is said 
to have been due to a fine player of that time, 
Lord Henry Bentinck. He had designed or 
noticed some contrivances with high cards, 
adopted with the object of getting trumps 
led ; and, being very particular himself in the 
use of small cards, it occurred to him that by 
analogous means, an arrangement of the play 
of small cards might be made, which should 
communicate to the partner a similar desire 
for a trump lead. 

The first published mention of it appears to 
be in a little book, dated 185 1, called " The 
Laws and Practice of Whist, by Caelebs, 
M.A.," the author being the late Mr. E. A. 
Carlyon, a good player and a member of the 
Portland Club, to the members of which his 
book was dedicated. On page 62, he says : 

" Generally, wherever a higher card is seen to fall, pas- 
sively, i.e., without a substantive object, before a lower, 
exhaustion of the suit may be expected ; and the insignifi- 

larity in "Calling Honours," which was understood to be a re- 
quest for the partner to lead trumps, as mentioned by Hoyle, 
Mathews, and a writer in 1821, Admiral Burney. The latter 
says: " This I apprehend to be an intrusion on the plainness and 
integrity of Whist, but having been allowed and generally prac- 
tised it now stands, and is to be received as part of the game." 
This contrivance can hardly be received as anticipating the mod- 
ern Signal for Trumps, though it may be fairly quoted as a prece- 
dent for the common acceptance of the latter, when " allowed and 
generally practised." 



MODERN SIGNALLING.— THE GERM 121 

cance of the cards only renders the presumption more 
forcible ; hence, if you drop the tray before the deuce, it 
should be a moral certitude that you have no more of the 
suit. Many persons adopt another theory with regard to 
playing the higher card first ; viz., that it is an intimation 
of wishing trumps to be led. The existence of two such 
diametrically opposite theories sufficiently proves the ne- 
cessity of attending to these minutia** 

In the third edition of his book, however, 
dated January, 1858, Caslebs speaks much 
more positively about the signal, thus (page 

22) : 

" Whenever a superior card is unnecessarily played be- 
fore an inferior ; e.g., the tray before deuce, it is the strong- 
est indication of the player wishing for trumps. 

" This Signal, metaphorically termed the Bine Peter, is 
in diametrical antagonism to the theory of the old school ; 
when playing the higher card first, indicated exhaustion of 
the suit and a wish to ruff." 

The comparison of these two passages fur- 
nishes an important historical fact. As the 
author must have been well acquainted with 
the Portland Club, then the headquarters of 
Whist, it is clear that in 185 1 the device was 
not in general use there, but that before 1858 
it had become an acknowledged rule of play. 
Indeed, the author, in the Preface to the later 
edition, seems to pride himself on his " orig- 
inal " description of the " modern artifice. " 

The " metaphorical " name given to it, lik- 



122 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

ening it to a " Signal " hoisted on ship-board, 
appears to imply that it was then considered 
a new device in whist-playing. At any rate, 
we are justified by this evidence in believing 
that, in 1858, it had become fully accepted in 
the chief London clubs. 

A few years afterwards it passed under the 
hands of the " Little Whist School," and ap- 
pears also to have been received by them 
without question. " Cavendish," who in 1862 
founded his work largely on their proceed- 
ings, described it briefly without hesitation 
as an understood part of the game. 

When, however, it became more known 
outside there was much hesitation in accept- 
ing it. Many players in good circles ob- 
jected to it, and the French generally con- 
sidered it unjustifiable. Accordingly, when 
Clay published his excellent treatise in 1864, 
he thought it worth while to devote an en- 
tire chapter to its consideration and justifica- 
tion. It was discussed occasionally for some 
time afterwards, and the objections to it were 
often repeated, but they gradually died away, 
and may be said now to have almost entirely 
subsided. The " signal " has been found at- 
tractive to the great mass of players ; it has 
been approved, adopted, and recommended 
by the best authorities ; nobody doubts its 
importance and efficiency ; and whatever may 



MODERN SIGNALLING.— THE GERM 1 23 

be its speculative merits, we now have it be- 
fore us practically as an established integral 
part of the modern game as played in Eng- 
land and in America. 

We have therefore no intention of raising 
here any question about its legality, or fair- 
ness, or utility ; all those points have been 
settled by general consent. But as we are 
now trying to make a scientific investigation 
as to the Evolution of Whist, and as, without 
doubt, the signal for trumps has been one of 
the most powerful factors in the modern 
stages of this Evolution, it is desirable to 
notice the explanations which have been of- 
fered of its theoretical nature. And as Clay 
is the authority who has given us the best 
and most copious remarks upon it, we may 
turn to them for our chief information. 

After alluding to the objections made to it, 
he gives an ingenious explanation of its or- 
igin, with the view of showing that the sig- 
nal, or what is equivalent to it, would arise in 
the course of natural play, he says : 

" You have, let us suppose, a very strong hand in trumps, 
a strong suit, and two weak suits, say a queen and a small 
card in one, a knave and a small card in the other. Your 
adversary leads the king of one of your weak suits. You 
throw your queen in order to induce him to lead a trump 
for the protection of his suit, or to induce him at least to 
change his lead. He does not, however, fall into your 



124 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

trap, but plays his ace, and you play a small card. Your 
other weak suit is then probably led and you follow the 
same tactics, but to no purpose. You have to deal with 
a shrewd adversary. Your partner gets the lead in the 
third round of one of those suits. How should he reason ? 
He should see at once, and, if a good player, he would 
see at once, that you had endeavoured in vain to tempt 
your adversaries to lead trumps, and he should do for you 
that from which they had wisely abstained. 

" Again it is, let us say, your partner's lead. He has 
two ace king suits, and plays his two kings in order to 
shew you his strength. To each you throw a high card. 
He reasons thus : My partner's hand is all, or nearly all, 
trumps and the fourth suit. If it is not, he wishes me to 
think so and thereby to induce me to lead him a trump." 
— (Clay on Short Whist, pp. i io-i 1 1.) 

Now we must go a step further. Assum- 
ing this sort of thing to have been often 
done, it occurred to Lord Henry Bentinck 
that, as a signal for trumps was so much 
wanted, it would be easy to make the con- 
trivance more general, and apply it to smaller 
cards; so that playing, unnecessarily and ir- 
regularly, a higher card before a lower one, 
in any case, would serve for a call for trumps 
to be led. 

Clay, in explanation of this, says, after re- 
ferring to the cases which anticipated it (p. 
in): 

" This method of play being as old as Whist itself, it was 
certain, sooner or later, to be reduced to the conventional 
sign, good in the lowest cards as well as in the highest." 



MODERN SIGNALLING.— THE GERM 125 

Here, therefore, he clearly points to the 
real element of novelty, that is, the " reduc- 
tion to a conventional sign, good in the low- 
est cards as well as in the highest." And he 
considers this process so natural that he is 
reported to have stated in conversation, that 
u if a tribe of savages were taught Whist, he 
believed they would arrive at the signal in 
course of time by their own intuition/' 

" Cavendish " has also described the case 
in a very striking manner, and his description 
is so terse and so excellent that we give it 
entire. He says (21st Ed., page 143) : 

" It is a common artifice, if you wish a trump to be led, 
to drop a high card to the adversary's lead, to induce him 
to believe that you will trump it next round, whereupon 
the leader will very likely change the suit and perhaps 
lead trumps. Thus, if he leads King (from Ace, King and 
others) and you hold Queen and one other, it is evident 
that you cannot make the Queen. If you throw the Queen 
to his King, he may lead a trump to prevent you trumping 
his ace; but if he goes on with the suit and you drop 
your small card, it may fairly be inferred that you have 
been endeavouring to get him to lead a trump. Your 
partner should now take the hint, and, if he gets the lead, 
lead trumps ; for if you want them led it is of little con- 
sequence from whom the lead comes. 

"By a conventional extension of this system to lower 
cards it is understood that, whenever you throw away an 
unnecessarily high card, it is a sign (after the smaller card 
drops) that you want trumps led. This is called asking 
for trumps, or calling for trumps'* 



126 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

This puts it most clearly. It explains that 
the signal as a whole is not a novel invention, 
but that the novelty consists simply in a con- 
ventional extension of a natural mode of play 
to new circumstances. 

For instance, in returned leads, it can be 
easily proved that with a high card and a 
low card in hand, it is advantageous to return 
the high one. With two low cards it might 
seem to the primitive player indifferent which 
he returned. But now, this convention is un- 
derstood by all Whist players to be " good in 
the lowest cards as well as in the highest." 
This is similar in principle to the extended 
convention known as the call for trumps, and 
is much earlier. 

But we have chosen our illustration from 
the trump call, because this would appear to 
be the earliest use of it which had assumed 
any great importance in Whist history ; and 
we may, therefore, in our theoretical reason- 
ing, fairly connect all conventional extensions 
with this signal. 

Judging a posteriori it appears difficult to 
find any reason for the great opposition 
which was raised to the device on its first gen- 
eral publication, except on the ground of this 
little germ of novelty in its structure. It is 
a very small thing indeed ; but it is sufficient 
to enable a player to make an important com- 



MODERN SIGNALLING.— THE GERM 127 

munication to his partner which previously 
he could not do; and this is the great element 
in the importance it has assumed. 

In the great Evolution of nature there ap- 
pears to have been a day when, among the 
multifarious combinations of the inert chemi- 
cal elements, an infinitesimal spark mysteri- 
ously entered, which gave one of them a new 
molecular form, and so introduced the great 
and marvellous phenomena of universal life 
throughout the world. And in the Cosmos of 
Whist, a spark as infinitesimal may have 
dropped, in a London club, into the seething 
mass of Whist study, and have ultimately 
produced the wonderful combinations of the 
modern American game. 

And why need there be any hesitation in 
admitting that the signal contains a novel 
feature ? Why should not novelties be intro- 
duced into Whist ? Do not such introduc- 
tions form indeed an essential part of the Evo- 
lution we are now considering ? There have 
been changes and improvements enough 
since the invention of Whist, and why should 
not this be favourably received, if it is fair, 
and if it is found to add general interest to 
the game ? 

As to its fairness there can be no question. 
Clay, a most equitable and honourable-minded 
authority, declares it is " open to no objection 



128 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

on the score of unfairness." And this will be 
quite clear according to Paley 's test, as quoted 
on page 101, seeing that the means by which 
the information is conveyed is open to the 
whole table. The explanation of the novelty 
it contains, i.e., the conventional extension to 
the smaller cards, is become an acknowledged 
integral part of modern Whist instruction, 
and all modern players are bound to know it, 
or to suffer from their ignorance, as they 
would from ignorance of any other modern 
Whist rule of play. 

The other question, as to the effect of the 
trump signal on the game, is not so easily 
answered. Clay says, after declaring its fair- 
ness : 

" Whether or not it is an improvement of the game is 
quite another question, but one which it is scarce worth 
while to argue here, as the practice exists, and cannot, to 
my thinking, be put an end to. At least it has simpli- 
fied the game to the indifferent player and greatly dimin- 
ished the advantage of skill. The time for leading trumps 
used to be the point, of all others, demanding the greatest 
judgment. Now, almost as often as not, the tyro knows 
whether his partner wishes trumps to be played. So much 
is this the case that a player of great reputation, who claims 
such credit as is due to the inventor of the signal, has often 
said that he bitterly regrets his ingenuity, which has de- 
prived him of one half the advantage which he derived 
from his superior play. This practice, however, is estab- 
lished in England, and sooner or later it will travel." — 
(P. 112.) 



MODERN SIGNALLING. — THE GERM I 29 

But even if Clay 's disparaging remark be 
true when applied to players of quite the 
highest grade, it is unquestionable that the 
signal has vastly increased the interest of 
the game to the multitudes — the hundreds of 
thousands of more moderate players — and 
has, among that class, raised the character of 
the pla} 7 . It has not only done good to those 
who profit by it, but has also improved the 
play generally by requiring more attention 
to be paid to the fall of the cards, particu- 
larly of small ones. Formerly, many people, 
who were observant enough of honours 
and high cards generally, let their attention 
slacken in regard to twos, threes, fours, fives, 
etc. 

Nowadays this will not do ; if, when a 
man throws away a three his partner fails 
to recollect that, some few tricks before, he 
threw away a five of the same suit, the said 
partner must expect a somewhat severe re- 
buke for having, perhaps, by his carelessness 
lost the game. Or, if one of the adversaries 
is guilty of the same want of perception, he 
may lose an opportunity of forcing the call- 
ing hand, or of enabling his partner to make 
a little trump before it is drawn, so perhaps 
saving the game. 

Then the trump signal makes the players 
themselves more careful about the play of 
9 



130 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

small cards. For example, a player who 
sorts the cards of each suit according to 
their rank, may happen to misplace a five 
and a four, and in consequence to play 
them unintentionally in the wrong order. 
In the olden time this would not do much 
harm, but now an observant partner, hold- 
ing three trumps, would at once lead out 
his best, to what he deemed a call, and pos- 
sibly the whole play of the hand might be 
ruined. The fear of this sort of thing is a 
wholesome check. 

On this ground — namely, by stimulating 
the attention of the more moderate class of 
players — the trump signal undoubtedly gives 
greater interest to the game. It increases 
the number of things which have to be ob- 
served, and it opens out opportunities for 
skilful play which did not exist before. It is 
true that it often expedites the course of 
powerful hands, which carry all before them, 
and give no chance for opposition ; but in 
the more evenly balanced distributions it 
often produces interesting situations, where 
the combatants may fairly contest their pow- 
ers. 

We have hitherto referred to the signal for 
trumps only in its original simple form ; but 
its chief importance, in the Evolution of 



MODERN SIGNALLING. — THE GERM I 3 I 

Whist, consists in the fact that the novelty 
it involves, minute though it be, has formed 
The Germ, which, like the grain of mustard- 
seed, has developed to large dimensions. 
This development we have now to con- 
sider. 



CHAPTER VIII 

DEVELOPMENTS 

The first of the new Whist Developments 
was made by " Cavendish, " in what was called 
the " Penultimate " lead from a suit of five 
cards. It arose in a curious indirect way, 
of which its author has given an interesting 
account, 1 and which it will be instructive 
briefly to describe here. 

When working with the Little School, find- 
ing the lead of the ten adopted from King, 
Knave, ten and small ones (to protect the suit 
in case the partner should be very weak) he 
proposed, on the same grounds, to lead the 
lowest of any intermediate sequence of three 
cards. This was objected to by Clay, as he 
feared that such leads might be mistaken for 
leads from weak suits. Respect for the great 
authority checked discussion, but " Caven- 
dish " often afterwards tried the plan in 
playing with friends, and gradually discov- 
ered that by its means the leader, when a 
smaller card was afterwards played, could 

l<< Whist" Journal, January, 1894, page 116. 



DEVELOPMENTS 133 

always be credited with at least five cards of 
the suit. This suggested the idea that lead- 
ing the lowest but one, in any case, zvoitld have 
the same effect. The plan was communicated 
in pamphlet form to various clubs, and Clay 
withdrew his demurrer. It gradually spread ; 
about 1872 it was incorporated in " Caven- 
dish's " book, and it has since been largely 
accepted as a useful device in giving infor- 
mation. 

The author has fully explained its theoreti- 
cal character. The penultimate was natu- 
rally led from such a combination as King, 
10, 9, 8, and 2, as a matter of trickmaking ex- 
pediency, to protect the suit, and it then in- 
dicated five cards. When it was led from, 
say King, 10, 9, 3, and 2, it also indicated five 
cards, by a conventional extension, of the 
same nature as that of the trump-signal. 

The " Penultimate lead " was destined to 
have an important sequel. In 1879 Colonel 
(now General) Drayson, in his excellent "Art 
of Practical Whist," extended it by recom- 
mending that the holding of six cards should 
be intimated in a corresponding manner, by 
leading the antepenultimate , a suggestion which 
seemed a fair addition to the original one. 

About 1883, the process of development re- 
ceived an unexpected reinforcement from 
the other side of the Atlantic ; and as Ameri- 



134 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

ca has since taken such an important share in 
regard to these Latter-Day Improvements, it 
is desirable now to speak of the proceedings 
somewhat fully. 

We may take it for granted that the old 
Hoyle game, during its long exclusive pos- 
session of the Whist field, had spread into 
the Western World ; and when it became 
improved into the Philosophical form, the 
acute Americans were by no means sluggish 
in appreciating the improvements. The 
work of the present author, describing its 
general nature and advantages, was (unfort- 
unately without any advantage to him) mul- 
tiplied and distributed over the Western 
Hemisphere to an extent quite unprecedent- 
ed for a book of the kind ; while with those 
who went seriously in for improvement, 
" Cavendish " and Clay became also house- 
hold words. 

Among the earnest students of the modern 
Whist, had been a Mr. Nicholas Browse 
Trist, of New Orleans. He was of an emi- 
nent family, and had received a high-class 
education. He had entered into correspond- 
ence with " Cavendish," and had discussed 
many interesting points of Whist practice 
with him, frequently writing in the Field on 
the subject. 



DEVELOPMENTS 135 

In 1883, Mr. Trist, studying the leads 
above mentioned, conceived the bright idea 
that instead of counting the distance of the 
card led from the bottom of the suit, it would 
be more convenient to count it from the top. 
So that, if the intimation were given to the 
partner beforehand that the first small card 
led, in long suits, would be the fourth from 
the top, or as it is now called, the fourth best, 
it would comprise the old lead of the lowest 
from four, the " Cavendish " penultimate from 
five, and Drayson's antepenultimate from six, 
all in one rule. 

This was communicated to " Cavendish " in 
a letter, and shown to the author of the pres- 
ent work, who fully concurring in the ele- 
gance of the simplification, remarked that it 
seemed to have been, as inventors say, " in 
the air " for some time, and might be consid- 
ered to be now fully established, as a princi- 
ple of play. 

Of course it may be said (as was said at the 
time) that for the four, five, and six suits, this 
proposal was only a change of name, offering 
nothing new. But really the change of name 
meant a great deal, because it involved a new 
mode of considering the lead as information 
to the partner. Hitherto he had only esti- 
mated the member of cards held, by the in- 
dications of the low cards observed ; but now 



136 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

his attention was called to the value of the 
high cards, as revealed by the fact that the 
leader must hold exactly three cards, neither 
more nor less, of higher value than the one 
led. 

An example will make this clear. Sup- 
pose I hold King, Knave, nine, eight, and 
two, and I lead the eight. Considering the 
eight as a penultimate lead, my partner, when 
I drop the two, will know I had five cards 
originally. But considering it as the lead of 
the " fourth best," he may gain much more 
valuable information. Suppose he himself 
holds Queen, ten, and a small one, and that 
when he plays the Queen it is taken by the 
Ace. Then, when he considers that I must 
hold three cards higher than the eight, and 
that Ace, Queen, and ten are not among 
them, he knows, on the completion of this 
very first round, just as positively as if he 
looked over my hand, that I hold the King, 
Knave, and nine. This seems very obvious 
and simple, but no one before Mr. Trist ap- 
pears to have thought of it, although the lead 
is precisely the same as practised before, 
either with four, five, or (on Drayson's prin- 
ciple) with six cards. 

The convention is justified as follows: For 
the trick-making effect a low card only is 
wanted ; and the leader might be expected, in 



DEVELOPMENTS 1 37 

default of any other understanding, to lead 
the lowest he has. But in the majority of 
cases, as four is the most frequent number of 
a long suit, this would be the fourth best ; 
and by a conventional extension this is, for 
the purpose of giving information, made the 
general rule, all cards below the fourth best 
being ignored, just as if they were not in the 
leader's hand. 

This idea, from its simplicity and useful- 
ness, soon became popular, and in honour to 
Mr. Trist it has been universally known by 
the name of an " American Lead." 

Mr. Trist, however, about the same time 
did something more, as he contributed an 
important convention of another kind. He 
had noticed the advantageous use that had 
been made of variations in the play of " in- 
different high cards," i.e., cards of equal value 
for trick-making purposes ; and he proposed 
to carry this further. The cases were many 
where a player had to lead one card of a se- 
quence, and Mr. Trist reasoned that accord- 
ing to the new privilege, the leader might, 
by choosing different cards for the purpose, 
convey by convention distinct items of infor- 
mation for each card. 

In settling how this should be arranged, 
he ingeniously took advantage of some or- 



133 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

dinary expedients which had already pre- 
vailed for trick-making purposes. There had 
been a rule established in the earliest times 
by Hoyle, that, supposing the leader of a 
plain suit to hold King, Queen, and Knave, 
if he held only three or four cards of the 
suit altogether, he should lead the King ; 
but that if he held five or more he should 
lead the Knave ; the object of this being to 
induce his partner to put on the Ace, if 
he had it single-guarded, to get it out of the 
leader's way. 

There had also a rule been made specially 
by " Cavendish " for the Philosophical Game, 
of somewhat similar character. If the leader 
held Ace, Queen, and Knave, he would lead 
first the Ace, and then the Queen or the 
Knave ; but here he had a choice which of 
these two " indifferent cards" he should lead. 
If he held originally not more than four 
cards, he should lead the Queen, but if he 
held five or more, he should lead the Knave, 
not for any informing purpose, but with the 
view of inducing his partner to put on the 
King if he held it with two others originally, 
and so avoid blocking the suit. 

Now, Mr. Trist reasoned thus, " Here are 
two cases where it has been settled that dif- 
ferences are made in the card led, for the pur- 
pose of obtaining different results conducive 



DEVELOPMENTS 139 

to trick-making ; why should not these dif- 
ferences be utilized also for giving the part- 
ner information? It happens that in each 
case the lead of a lower card accompanies the 
holding of a larger number of the suit, and the 
lead of a higher card accompanies a smaller 
number of the suit. Why cannot we, under 
the new conventionally extended system of 
giving information, make it understood that 
in all cases of the leading of indifferent high 
cards, whether the general policy of trick- 
making dictates it or not, the same rule shall 
apply ? He consulted " Cavendish, " who 
warmly approved of the suggestion, and this 
at once was registered and widely adopted 
as another item of American Leads, 

They were taken up energetically by " Cav- 
endish" about the middle of 1884; he wrote 
much about them in the Field, and a special 
article in Macmillans Magazine for January, 
1886. He also gave several illustrated lec- 
tures on them to Whist coteries, and he pub- 
lished in 1885 a work called " Whist Develop- 
ments" 1 (dedicated to Mr. Trist), in which 
the American Leads formed the chief topic. 
He described them very fully and laid down 
three maxims by which they were defined, as 
follows : 

1 " Whist Developments. American Leads and the Unblock- 
ing Game." De la Rue & Co. 1885. 



140 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

i. When you open a suit with a Lozv Card, 
lead your Fourth Best. 

2. On quitting the head of your suit, lead 
your Original Fourtli Best} 

3. With two high indifferent cards lead 
the higher if you opened a suit of four ; the 
lower if you opened a suit of five. 

The promulgation of these leads gave rise 
to some controversy ; but the principles 
made way among the more earnest Whist 
circles, and they were incorporated, in 1886, 
in the sixteenth edition of " Cavendish's " 
work, as established rules of practice. 

" Cavendish " was indefatigable in bringing 
into use the new system of improved com- 
munications. He introduced a fresh one af- 
fecting, in an important way, the management 
of trumps. When a player resolves to lead 
them it becomes very desirable for him to 
know to what extent his partner is able to 
support him. This may be seen to some 
extent by the card he returns ; but in the 
thirst for information in the present day it 
cannot be waited for; it is wanted at once. 
Suppose, therefore, I either lead trumps or 
call for them : the moment my partner sees 

1 This maxim afterwards underwent discussion, for many years, 
and " Cavendish " now prefers to say, lead the fourth best remain- 
ing in your hand. 



DEVELOPMENTS HI 

this, if he happens to hold more than three he 
also calls for trumps, which is to be under- 
stood to communicate that fact to me. This 
is called The Echo of the Tramp Call. Of 
course if I do not see an echo I understand 
he holds only three or less. This was pub- 
lished by " Cavendish " in 1874, and a " sub- 
echo " has since been arranged to show when 
the exact number held is three. 

Another novelty that occupied the attention 
of " Cavendish" had reference to the effec- 
tual " bringing in" of a long suit, which, it will 
be recollected (see page 92) was one of the 
fundamental features of the Philosophical 
Game. This desirable result was of course 
often frustrated by the opponents, whose 
business it was to endeavour to do so ; but it 
was sometimes also frustrated by the partner, 
whose business should have been to help in- 
stead of to obstruct the desired end. 

Suppose, for example, that when I am try- 
ing to bring in my long suit, my partner may 
hold a high card in it, together with some 
small ones ; it may not unfrequently chance, 
if care is not used, that after he has got rid 
of his small cards, his high one may stand in 
my way, and stop my continuous lead. This 
is called " blocking my suit," and " Caven- 
dish's" proposal was to enable my partner to 



142 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

avoid getting me into this difficulty. He ac- 
cordingly devised, by a masterly process of 
reasoning, a way by which, if my partner 
used ordinary care, he could see beforehand 
when his high card would be likely to be ob- 
structive, and might get rid of it in time. 
This he called " unblocking ; " and the pro- 
cess by which it was effected, the " Unblock- 
ing Game." It was published in his " Whist 
Developments," 1885. It depended almost 
entirely on the indications given, by the 
American leads, as to the number of cards 
held. Indeed the endeavour to show this, 
and so to enable an observer to " count his 
partners hand," appears to have been the 
chief object in these contrivances generally. 

" Cavendish " devised the following short 
rule for unblocking purposes. When your 
partner leads originally either Ace, Queen, 
Knave, ten, or nine (not the King), and you 
hold exactly four cards of the suit, retain your 
lowest card on the first and second rounds. 
This is a simple general rule, of the applica- 
tion of which the following is an example. 
The first lead is a Queen ; second hand plays 
King ; the third hand knows that, according 
to modern practice, the lead was from Queen, 
Knave, ten, and probably four or more in 
suit. The third hand holds nine, eight, 
seven, and two, of the suit. He should retain 



DEVELOPMENTS 143 

the two and play the seven. On the second 
round the original leader's ten is won by the 
opponent's Ace. The original third hand 
should play the eight, still retaining the two. 
It is now obvious that if the original lead was 
from four cards (or even three) no harm is 
done, as the two can be played on the third 
round, if thought expedient. But if the orig- 
inal lead was from five or more cards (as may 
be determined by the fall of the cards on the 
first and second rounds) the third hand can 
now unblock by playing the nine to his part- 
ner's Knave. Had he retained the nine and 
the eight, he must block any long cards his 
partner may hold. For further details the 
book must be referred to. 

Most of the results of Whist study in this 
period were in the shape of new additions to 
the ordinary rules. But in some cases this 
study led to revisions and alterations of the 
old time-honoured formulae, and of the sim- 
plest and most obvious leads. For example, 
in an original lead from a long suit contain- 
ing Ace and King, the orthodox practice was 
to play out the King first, and then the Ace, 
for reasons well considered and well known. 
But, in 1888, " Cavendish " proposed to adhere 
to this only for a suit of four ; if it was longer, 
this fact was to be intimated to the partner 



144 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

by beginning with the Ace, and following 
with the King. Similarly, the old orthodox 
habit for a long suit headed by King and 
Queen, was to begin with the King ; but this 
also was now confined to suits of four only; 
for longer suits the new prescription was to 
begin with the Queen. 

These are only examples : for in the ad- 
vanced study of leads, the fact became evi- 
dent that, by a previous understanding, other 
leads formerly prescribed might be changed 
advantageously, so as to afford more informa- 
tion. The new list of leads in the 21st Edi- 
tion of " Cavendish," 1893, contains some 
sixty rules, occupying seven pages ! 

The particulars stated above only give an 
idea of the general nature of the novelties in- 
troduced during this period; for, the admis- 
sion of extensions of principle being allowed, 
many advantageous cases of their application 
were discovered. It is only just, however, 
to their chief author, " Cavendish," to say that 
he always seems to have taken great pains, 
before introducing and publishing new in- 
ventions of the kind, to investigate thorough- 
ly their nature and working, and to discuss 
candidly their advantages and disadvantages, 
so as to establish not only their correctness 
in principle but their usefulness in applica- 
tion. He would submit them to good judges, 



DEVELOPMENTS 145 

and in the first instance offer them tentatively 
to the Whist world, by inserting them in an 
Appeadix ; and he would only admit them 
into the body of his work, after he had se- 
cured the assent, to them, of persons on 
whose judgment and experience he appears 
to have relied. 

He has also taken the trouble to give, at 
some length, arguments in defence of the 
new introductions, and general statements of 
his views on Whist conventions and signals 
generally. And as this involves the mention 
of points confessedly obscure, on which there 
is not only much want of knowledge among 
practical Whist players, but some difference 
of opinion among educated experts, it is only 
justice to so high an authority to quote 
some of his most important passages. (21st 
Edition, Chapter on " The Conversation of 
the Game.") 

" The instructed player frequently selects one card in 
preference to another with the sole object of affording in- 
formation. When the principle is carried thus far the play 
becomes purely conventional. For example, you naturally 
win a trick as cheaply as possible : if fourth hand you 
could win with a ten you would not waste an Ace. But 
suppose you hold Knave and ten, which card should then 
be played ? The Knave and ten in one hand are of equal 
value, and therefore to win with the Knave would be no 
unnecessary sacrifice of strength. Nevertheless you ex- 



146 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

tend to such cases the rule of winning as cheaply as pos- 
sible, and you play the ten for the mere purpose of con- 
veying information. This is a simple instance of pure 
convention. Again, the system of returning the higher of 
two losing cards when they are both small cards, is purely 
conventional. 

" To take another case : after two rounds of your four- 
card suit you are left with two losing cards, say the six 
and the seven, and you, having the lead, are about to 
continue the suit ; you should lead the six, not the seven, 
in accordance with the rule that you lead the lowest 
card of a suit, except with commanding strength. This 
being the convention, if you lead the seven your partner 
will infer that you cannot hold the six, and will suppose 
that you led from a three-card suit in consequence of ex- 
ceptional circumstances ; if he is a good player he will 
miscount all the hands, probably to your mutual discom- 
fiture. 

" Whist conventions, it will be observed, are in accord- 
ance with, and are suggested by, principle. Indeed all 
the established conventions of the game are so chosen as 
to harmonize with play that would naturally be adopted 
independently of convention. The aggregation of the rec- 
ognized rules of play, including the established conven- 
tions, constitutes what in practice is called the Conversa- 
tion of the Game of Whist. 

" A most valuable mode of conveying very precise in- 
formation of strength is within the reach of those who 
adopt the mode of leading advised at pp. 75-83 [The 
Analysis of Leads in Detail]. As some of these leads 
have been questioned it may be stated that, in the opinion 
of the Author, they are advantageous when played by part- 
ners comprehending them, and that they form a system in 
harmony with established principles. 



DEVELOPMENTS 147 

" With regard to this system as applied to leading a 
high card of your strong suit after a high card, no one 
disputes the advantage of leading Ace, then Queen, from 
Ace, Queen, Knave and one small card, and of leading Ace, 
then Knave from Ace, Queen, Knave and more than one 
small card. In the case of the four-card suit you select 
the higher card to tell your partner not to play the King, as 
you have not sufficient numerical power to defend the suit 
single-handed. In the case of a suit of more than four 
cards you select the lower card, that your partner may not 
retain the command of your suit, and may play the King, 
should he happen to have held King and two small ones 
originally. For a similar reason it is obvious that with 
Queen, Knave, ten, and one small card, you should follow 
Queen with Knave ; with Queen, Knave, ten, and more 
than one small card you should follow Queen with ten. 

" Now here is a germ of a principle of play. Holding 
two high indifferent cards and only four of your suit, your 
second lead is the higher card ; holding more than four, 
your second lead is the lower card. For the sake of uni- 
formity you should pursue the same plan in all cases 
where, after your first lead, you remain with two high in- 
different cards. 

" With regard to the system as applied to opening your 
strong suit with a low card, those who have already adopted 
the penultimate lead from suits of five cards will have no 
difficulty in again discovering the germ of a principle of 
play. The fourth best card of your suit is led from suits 
of four cards and from suits of five cards. 

" You have only to apply the same rule to suits of more 
than five cards and to lead your fourth best card. You 
then pursue a uniform practice, and at the same time con- 
vey information which may be very useful. 

" As an illustration, take this suit : Oueen, ten, nine, 



148 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

eight. You lead the eight. Now, suppose your suit to be 
Queen, ten, nine, eight, three ; you still lead the eight. Now 
add one more card. Your suit is Queen, ten, nine, eight, 
three, two. You should still lead the eight. No doubt a 
careful player would lead the eight, as a card of protection, 
even if systematic leads had never been thought of. With 
lower cards, such as Queen, nine, eight, seven, three, two, 
it is possible a careful player might lead the seven, and 
with still lower cards where is he to stop ? The knot is 
cut by the very simple and uniform rule of leading the 
fourth best, without reference to the possibility of its being 
a card of protection. 

" The more the system of leading, developed at pp. 
75-83, is examined, the more thorough it will be found." 

The result of the long-continued efforts of 
" Cavendish " and his American coadjutor, 
Mr. Trist, may be seen in the later editions of 
the work here quoted from, which present 
examples of energy, industry, and ingenuity 
in regard to the game which have never been 
equalled or approached since the time of 
Hoyle. 

For it must be explained that these altera- 
tions, in their later features, have been of 
such a nature as to influence materially the 
general details of play, and to suggest con- 
comitant changes in views and proceedings in- 
directly connected with them, so as to utilize 
in the best manner the advantages of the new 
provisions. And to such an extent does this 



DEVELOPMENTS 1 49 

reach that, although the main principles of 
the Philosophical Game are still adhered to, 
the modes of applying them become much 
changed. 

There is also no doubt that the study of 
these changes, in the hands of the masters of 
the art, have led to the more thorough in- 
vestigation of scientific play generally, inde- 
pendent of the signalling, as may be seen by 
many late discussions and articles in the 
American " Whist " journal and in the Eng- 
lish Field} 

And, moreover, all this labour, great as it 
has been, has not yet approached finality, as 
we shall see hereafter that the march of Evo- 
lution has not yet been stayed. 

1 Notice in particular some mathematical articles of very high 
class in the Field of 1893 and 1894, by Mr. Whiteld and a writer 
signing himself C. H. P. C. It is right to say that the "card" 
department of this journal, under the editorship of " Cavendish," 
has been the great repository of Whist intelligence and discussion 
ever since the game acquired any literary interest. 



CHAPTER IX 

WHIST IN AMERICA 

It will be easily understood from the fore- 
going chapters that the latest phase of Whist 
Evolution, which we are now treating of, con- 
sists of the previous Philosophical Game, ex- 
tended b} 7 a large augmentation of the pow- 
ers of communication between the partners, 
and by many inferences and improvements 
of play, consequent upon and arising out of 
them. By these extensions the two players 
are brought much nearer than before to the 
ideal condition of knowing each other's hands ; 
and so of playing the joint combination to 
the best possible advantage. 

The new system has not, as a whole, been 
yet adopted largely in England ; but to make 
amends, it has been received with remarkable 
earnestness and enthusiasm in the United 
States of America, where it may indeed be 
said to have become the standard form of 
game. And as there are many points con- 
nected with its reception and practice there 
which are novel and interesting, and are quite 



WHIST IN AMERICA I Si 

worthy of the attention of Whist players gen- 
erally, it is proposed to devote this chapter 
to their description. 



WHIST CUSTOMS ; SCORING, ETC. 

In the first place something may be said 
about the American Whist customs, which 
differ in some respects from those in Eng- 
land, particularly as regards scoring. 

In the original English Whist of Hoyle the 
winning score for each game was ten. Ev- 
ery trick above six counted one, the posses- 
sion of three honours counted two ; and four 
honours counted four. This was called Long 
Whist ; and sometimes, when the honours ran 
even, a game might be spun out for a long 
time, and the longer it took the less gain was 
made by the winners. 

There is no denying that the in-born pro- 
pensities of the genus homo as a gambling ani- 
mal appeared in the game of Whist as well 
as in many other gentlemanly amusements : 
the long game was found too slow to allow 
the free circulation of money, and it was cut 
in two, producing Short Whist, as described 
on page 49. Many Whist enthusiasts pro- 
tested against the undue preponderance of 
luck caused by the full retention of the value 
of the honours with a score of only five (allow- 



152 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

ing more than double the winning score to 
be made in one fine hand), but in vain ; the ex- 
citement of the turns of fortune was preferred 
to the milder stimulant of skill in play, and 
Short Whist has been found unassailable in 
the public Whist circles in England. 1 

Now without shewing our American Cousin 

1 Some curious ideas prevail even among the best players, as 
to luck at Whist. The most powerful intellect, the most profound 
science, is not proof against superstition ; and it is curious to see 
how fastidious even the best players will be about the choice 
of seats, or cards, or counters, or about other things which 
can have as little influence on their fortunes as the changes of 
the moon. Some will insist on being the first to touch a black 
deuce turned up ; some attach good omens to the hinges of the 
table ; some think it advantageous to sit north and south ; and 
so on. 

One cannot believe that any other than a born fool (and he 
could not be a Whist player) seriously believes such things are 
of any real importance, and the persons doing them are often 
unmercifully bantered for their folly ; but still they persevere, 
and it has often been a great puzzle how such an anomaly can be 
explained. We believe the explanation lies in a simple applica- 
tion of experience in chance results. Toss up a penny a great 
number of times and record the results ; you will find that you 
do not get heads and tails alternately, but that there is an almost 
constant tendency to produce runs on one particular chance ; 
you will often find heads or tails repeated 3, 4, 5, or more 
times running. Now, as the tossing of a penny is an analogous 
case to the winning or losing of a rubber at Whist (which is very 
nearly an even chance) people lay hold of the salient fact of the 
tendency to a run, and apply it to this case. They argue that 
as the head, after coming once, may be repeated several times, 
so the seats or cards which have won once may win several times 
running. Of course the reasoning is fallacious, as the reasoners 
know full well, but it is their only justification, and as the prac- 
tices are very harmless, and are indeed expressly provided for 
by the laws, one need not be angry with them. 



WHIST IN AMERICA 1 53 

the slightest disrespect, it is allowable to say 
that the inhabitants of his hemisphere have 
not been usually considered insensible to the 
attractiveness of the fickle goddess : — and 
one would have thought that when such a 
glorious mode of wooing her was made avail- 
able to him, as that offered by the noble in- 
vention of Short Whist with full honours, he 
would have embraced it gladly. But by one 
of those odd inconsistencies which occasion- 
ally seize nations as well as individuals, the 
Americans, almost with one accord, have 
cried out against the luck in the Short Game, 
and sought means to increase the power of 
the element of play, by declining to count 
the honours and making the score by tricks 
only. 

We learn 1 that in the ordinary American 
social clubs, where Whist is not the chief ob- 
ject, but is merely an accidental recreation, 
it is customary to play, not rubbers, but single 
games, in which five is the winning score. 
The points are gained by tricks only, hon- 
ours not counting at all. The stakes vary 
from one or two to five dollars per game ; 
and when five points are scored by either 
party the game is won, no allowance being 

1 " Cavendish," after his return from the States, gave a general 
description of American Whist in the Field of December 9 and 16, 
1893- 



154 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

made for any points that have been scored 
on the opposite side. Thus when I and my 
partner have scored, say four, if the other 
party make five, our four are entirely lost, 
doing us no good at all. 

In the Whist Clubs proper, however, es- 
tablished for Whist only (and generally 
known as League Clubs), a different form of 
scoring is used. In this, also, honours do 
not count, the only score is by tricks, each 
trick above six counting one point. Single 
games are played, the winning score being 
seven ; the value of the game is determined by 
deducting the losers' score from seven. The 
reason for choosing the number seven is that 
this is the maximum which can be obtained 
in one hand. In these clubs, although money 
stakes are not forbidden, it is unusual to play 
for money, as the Executive of the League 
wish that the play should be for the love of 
the game alone. 

Whist played in either of the above modes 
is called " Straight Whist." 

It will be obvious that this mode of scoring, 
by tricks only, eliminates a large portion of 
the luck, reducing it, in fact, to the varia- 
tions in the trick-making capabilities of the 
hands, and leaving to the players the oppor- 
tunity of exercising their skill in making the 
most of such hands as they receive. 



WHIST IN AMERICA I 55 

DUPLICATE WHIST. 

But the Americans were not satisfied with 
this ; so earnest was their wish to magnify 
the importance of skill that they resolved, if 
possible, to introduce tests which would tend 
to eliminate luck altogether. For this pur- 
pose they reverted to a plan which had been 
used for the same purpose at a very early 
period. We have mentioned in Chapter V. 
a " Little School " of Whist students who 
endeavoured to get out some accurate Whist 
data. The " value of skill " was one of these, 
and they contrived a mode of experiment, 
which was described by Mr. Henry Jones, 
one of their number, in a letter to Bell's Life, 
March 6, 1857, an d signed " Experto Crede." 
This was the first contribution to Whist 
literature ever written by an author after- 
wards so famous, and as the idea was in- 
genious and useful, we may give a few ex- 
tracts from it. 1 He says : 

The scheme, besides possessing the greatest simplicity, 
almost entirely eliminates luck. ... In each of two 
separate apartments a Whist table is formed, each table 
being composed of two good players against two confess- 
edly inferior ones. A hand is played at one table ; the 
same cards are then conveyed to the other table and the 

1 It has been reprinted entire in the Milwaukee Whist Journal, 
May, 1893. 



I 56 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

hand is played over again, the inferior players now having 
the cards which the good players held, the order of the 
hands of course being preserved. The difference in the 
scores will manifestly be twice the advantage due to play 
in that hand. 

It is necessary, however, to bear in mind that chance is 
not altogether eliminated, inasmuch as bad play might, 
and frequently does succeed ; again some hands offer a 
greater scope than others for the exercise of talent. Still 
all that portion of luck (by far the largest) arising from 
good and bad cards is, by this method, done away with. 

This contrivance was further described in 
the " Philosophy of Whist," 1883. A few years 
afterwards it was again brought forward in the 
Field, and appears to have been seized upon by 
the American players. But it was changed in 
its plan. In the original there were two pairs 
of good and two pairs of inferior players, the 
object being only to find the difference be- 
tween good and inferior play generally. But 
in the American game the object has corre- 
sponded more nearly with " matches" or com- 
petitions at chess, cricket, lawn tennis, etc., 
its object being to test the comparative skill 
of players against each other. 

The arrangements for this purpose are in- 
genious and complicated, and have been the 
subject of much study. 1 The principle of 

1 The most usual arrangement has been excellently described 
in "Cavendish's" article already alluded to. Mr. R. F. Foster 
has also treated of the subject at considerable length. 






WHIST IN AMERICA 157 

the original invention is applied by causing 
any hand for four persons to be played in 
" duplicate," or " replayed " (or, as the Ameri- 
cans call it, " overplayed "), with changes in 
the players ; after which, according to suit- 
able arrangements, and by proper scoring, 
the comparative skill of the different play- 
ers may be estimated by the results ob- 
tained. 

This may be carried out in several differ- 
ent ways. For example, two clubs may be 
matched against each other, each bringing to 
the contest a large number of chosen players. 
Many such matches have been, and continue 
to be played in America; and an example of 
one of the most celebrated is given in Ap- 
pendix D to this w r ork. 

But a more usual arrangement is to match 
a smaller number of players, called a " team," 
against another team of an equal number. 
The following sketch description of the 
simplest elements of such an arrangement 
may probably suffice to give an idea how 
it is managed. 

Say that a team of four players, A B C D, 
which we will call the " New York team," 
are to play against a " Brooklyn team," W X 
Y Z. 

Two tables are formed. At the first table 
A and B play against W and X ; at the other 



158 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

table C and D play against Y and Z. A hand 
is played at the first table, and we will say 
that A B mark seven tricks and W X six 
tricks, 

The same hand is then taken to the other 
table to be " overplayed " or " duplicated/' 
when the cards previously held by the New 
York players, A B, are given to the Brook- 
lyn players, Y Z, and those previously played 
by the Brooklyns, W X, are given to the 
New Yorkers, C D. Suppose that here C D 
make seven tricks and Y Z make six tricks ; 
then on the sum of the two playings 

The New York team make . . . 14 tricks. 
The Brooklyn team make . . . 12-tricks. 

If the players were of equal strength we 
might expect that each team would make 
thirteen, so that the result shows the New 
York team to be the stronger, as regards 
the play of that hand. 

This single experiment would be of little 
value, by reason of many interposing ele- 
ments, but the effect of these may be largely 
diminished by multiplying the hands played 
and overplayed. The proper scoring and 
final combination of the whole would thus 
give a fair comparative idea of the respec- 
tive degrees of skill exerted by the two 
teams in question. 



WHIST IN AMERICA I 59 

It is on these principles that the competi- 
tive matches and tournaments are now car- 
ried on: and indeed the duplicate game is be- 
coming so much approved in the American 
League Clubs as almost to be their Standard 
Whist form. And when the play of the 
hands is fully and accurately recorded (as is 
now frequently done), the record gives excel- 
lent data for study as to the effect of differ- 
ent modes of play. 

Mr. Foster has carried the principle of 
duplication farther by making it applicable 
to play on a smaller scale, say in domestic 
circles. Suppose for example there are four 
players of a family; one pair of them, A B, 
playing in partnership, may agree to match 
themselves against the other pair, Y Z, in 
the following way : 

A hand is played by A B against Y Z, and 
the number of tricks on each side are noted. 
The cards are then carefully put aside, and 
on a future sitting, when it may be assumed 
that the players have ceased to remember 
anything material about the hands, the same 
cards are taken again by the same four per- 
sons but reversing the holders — i.e., Y Z are 
now given the cards which A B had before. 
A comparison of the results of many hands 
so played will give an indication of the 
comparative skill ; provided, of course, that 



l6o LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

a good memory does not vitiate them, on 
which doubts may arise. 1 

By other arrangements the skill of single 
individuals may be compared, but this pro- 
cess involves some complicated provisions, 
for which Mr. Foster's book may be referred 
to. 

" Cavendish " has expressed the opinion 
that, although duplicate Whist is the most 
suitable for playing in matches or tourna- 
ments, it involves a great strain on the play- 
ers, under which Whist loses its significance 
as a pastime and becomes a toil. He thinks 
that on the whole the " Straight Whist " of 
seven up without honours, is the most per- 
fect mode of scoring for intellectual players 
that has yet been devised. But the English 
Short Whist with full honours will probably 
long remain a favourite in its own country. 

THE AMERICAN WHIST LEAGUE. 

The Philosophical Game of Whist having 
been originally so well received in America, 
it may easily be understood that the subse- 
quent participation of an American authority, 
Mr. Trist, in its latest development, gave it a 
further patriotic interest ; and as the improve- 

1 Apparatus for this experiment is sold by Messrs. Mudie, sta- 
tioners, in Coventry Street, Piccadilly. 



WHIST IN AMERICA l6l 

ments became chronicled in the later edi- 
tions of " Cavendish," they continued to add 
to the popularity of the advanced views. 

Many Whist clubs were formed in various 
parts of the States, and the modes of encour- 
aging the study and improvement of personal 
skill were so successful, that in 1890, a pro- 
posal was made to get up, in imitation of the 
habit in other games of skill, a Whist Tourna- 
ment ; where the members of the clubs might 
meet together and compete for prizes. 

The proposal was well received by clubs 
throughout the country ; but, in the dis- 
cussions that followed, it soon became evi- 
dent that the prevailing opinion among 
American Whist players favoured the idea 
of holding a Whist Congress to consider this 
and other questions. Accordingly invita- 
tions were sent out to the various clubs to at- 
tend a congress to be held for four days in 
April, 1 89 1, in Milwaukee (where a good 
Whist club had been established since 1875), 
" for the purpose of organizing an associa- 
tion of American Whist Clubs ; of formulat- 
ing and adopting a code of rules and regula- 
tions suitable to the American game ; of 
discussing and, if practicable, of adopting and 
promulgating a declaration of principles as 
to methods of play ; and of instituting a 
match or series of matches, to be played un- 
n 



l62 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

der such rules as the Congress may pre- 
scribe." 

The Congress was held, and it resulted in 
the organization of a permanent body called 
The American Whist League. It was to con- 
sist of an association of local Whist clubs, 
representatives of which were to meet in 
congress in different towns once every 
year. The President chosen for the first 
Congress was Mr. Eugene S. Elliott, a 
gentleman identified with the local Whist 
society, and thirty-six clubs sent in their ad- 
hesion. 

The first work was to settle the Constitu- 
tion of the League and to formulate a Code 
of Laws suited to the American game. The 
mode of scoring was also determined on. 
Matches were then arranged and playing 
took place on the several days, the records 
being afterwards published in the Official 
Report. 

At this Congress Mr. Henry Jones (" Cav- 
endish ") and Mr. N. B. Trist, of New Or- 
leans, were elected honorary members of the 
League. 

The Congress attracted wide attention. 
The immediate result was to stimulate the 
interest in Whist throughout the States, and 
many social organizations, that had been 
gradually drifting away from the knowledge 



WHIST IN AMERICA 163 

and practice of the game, began its study 
again, while the number of new clubs formed 
was legion. 

The Second Congress of the League was 
held at New York for a week in July, 1892. 
It comprised forty-eight clubs, delegates of 
which attended; in all, 310 persons. The 
playing of matches was pursued on a lar- 
ger scale and under more explicit and for- 
mal regulations than before, and prizes and 
trophies were competed for. 

The laws were again revised and im- 
proved. 

The Third Congress was held at Chicago 
from the 19th to 23d June, 1893. It brought 
together more prominent players than either 
of the former ones, and demonstrated a ma- 
terial advance in the methods of playing. 
The work consisted mostly in perfecting 
what the two former Congresses had begun, 
including a further revision of the Laws. We 
give a copy hereafter, as they differ ma- 
terially in some points from the authorized 
English Code. Mr. Henry Jones and Mr. 
Trist were present and received special hon- 
ours. General Drayson and Dr. Pole were 
elected honorary members. Twenty -three 
States were represented in the League by 
clubs in fifty cities. A lady delegate at- 
tended on this occasion for the first time, and 



164 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

acted as assistant secretary. The matches 
played were esteemed very good. 

Mr. Jones, on this visit to America, took 
the opportunity of making a tour of some 
months through the United States, during 
which he was hospitably received by the best 
Whist clubs and players, and much benefit 
resulted from the intercommunication. 

The Fourth Congress was held in Phila- 
delphia from the 22d to the 26th of May, 
1894. There were then represented, as at- 
tached to the League, ninety-five Whist clubs, 
with a membership of upwards of 14,000 per- 
sons. These clubs were situated in sixty-four 
cities and towns, belonging to twenty-three 
States and the District of Columbia. The 
Mayor of Philadelphia presided, and in his 
opening speech amused his audience by an- 
nouncing that " the Philadelphia police had 
been specially provided with copies of 
' Cavendish/ and were instructed to settle 
all disputes in accordance with recognized 
American leads." The number of players 
who actually attended and took part in the 
proceedings was about 400. 1 

1 Among these was a gentleman of good position, a Mr. Henry 
K. Dillard, who was totally, blind. He lost his sight by disease 
about thirteen or fourteen years ago, but, having been fond 
of Whist, he perfected arrangements by which he could con- 
tinue his practice. He uses cards pricked by stencil in such 
a way that by his delicate touch he is able to distinguish them 



WHIST IN AMERICA 165 

The matches played at this Congress ap- 
pear to have excited more than usual inter- 
est. The League was well received by the 
city ; all the leading clubs, and many other 
public institutions, were thrown open to the 
visitors, and much private hospitality was 
shown. 

The next Congress was fixed to be at Min- 
neapolis in 1895. 

The playing of " Matches," or " Whist 
Tournaments/' is such a novelty, and at the 
same time is such a striking illustration of 
the enthusiasm with which the game is taken 
up in the United States, that we publish, in 
the Appendix, an account, taken from the 
Whist Journal of August, 1892, of one of the 
most important, viz., for the Hamilton Whist 
Trophy, at the Congress held in that year. 
The account will also illustrate the nature 
and application of the duplicate system of 
play. 

rapidly and correctly, and all that he then requires is that each 
of the other players shall name the card he plays. The sten- 
cil marks are so slight as not to interfere with the fair use of 
the cards by the other players ; but, obviously, an ordinary pack 
might be used by his simply getting his own cards changed by 
some bystander, for marked ones of the same pattern. He is 
already more than an average player, and is said to hold his own 
with any. Many of the leading delegates played with him, and 
were unanimous in their expressions of astonishment at the cor- 
rectness of his game and the rapidity with which he played. 



1 66 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 



PROFESSIONAL TEACHING OF WHIST. 

Another evidence of the earnestness of the 
Americans in the game has been the fact 
that they have revived and encouraged pro- 
fessional teaching, in the manner practised by 
Hoyle. 

Nothing had been done since his day ; but 
in 1 87 1, when the author of the present work 
had occasion to describe the Philosophical 
System he inserted the following note {Quar- 
terly Review, page 69) : 

Why cannot Whist be taught professionally, like chess 
and billiards ? Hoyle set the example, at a guinea a les- 
son, and there is now much more scope for instruction 
than there was in his day, from the game being reduced 
to so much more systematic and teachable a form. 

It is quite as practicable as the teaching of 
drawing or music, or any ordinary accom- 
plishment, and the Americans have made the 
experiment with great success. 

It is curious that the teaching began among 
the fair sex. About 1886 a little circle of la- 
dies, prominent in the Society of Milwaukee 
(a city often distinguished in Whist matters), 
despairing of solving for themselves the mys- 
teries of " Cavendish," sought aid from others 
of their sex who had been more fortunate. 



WHIST IN AMERICA 167 

And this led to regular paid instruction. The 
pioneers in the venture were a Miss Kate 
Wheelock, of Milwaukee, and a Miss Gardi- 
ner, of Boston. The first-named lady has since 
earned a very wide reputation. Her classes 
in one season numbered nearly 150 mem- 
bers, and she has received so many applica- 
tions from various towns that she has been 
obliged to make periodical tours to satisfy 
them. She has turned out many distin- 
guished pupils, and is known by the name of 
the " Whist Queen." A Mrs. M. Jenks is also 
a celebrated teacher, who has advocated 
Whist-teaching in schools ; and many others 
are so engaged. Some of these ladies have 
visited London, and have given a high im- 
pression of their abilities. The terms charged 
by the best teachers are two dollars per les- 
son for each person in a class of four, and 
the income of one teacher is given at the rate 
of $150 (£30) per week. Many classes are 
said to exist in every large town, and the 
pupils often belong to the best society. 

It is noteworthy that while accomplished 
lady Whist players are so rare in England, 
in America they abound ; they take part in 
the League matches and are said to hold their 
own among the best club members. There 
can be no doubt that since the game has 
been reduced to more systematic principles 



l68 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

it has become more liked bv the fair sex. In- 
deed, the attainment of this was one of the 
advantages early claimed for the Philosophi- 
cal Game. 

In speaking of Whist instruction we must 
not omit the mention of Mr. R. F. Foster, 
of Baltimore, who has not only been a high- 
ly successful teacher, but has contrived an 
ingenious arrangement of " Self - Playing 
Cards " to aid in the study. 

AMERICAN WHIST LITERATURE. 

It was natural, as Whist had become so 
popular in the States, that it should be taken 
up by the Press. There had for some time 
been " Whist Columns " in the newspapers, 
but after the first Congress it was thought 
desirable to start a special organ for it. Ac- 
cordingly in June, 1891, there was published 
in Milwaukee the first number of a handsome 
large quarto periodical entitled : Whist, a 
Monthly Journal devoted to the inter- 
ests of the Game. And on the occasion of 
the Second Congress this was adopted as the 
accredited organ of the American Whist 
League. It has appeared regularly since, and 
contains matter of much interest; — notices of 
the Congress proceedings ; essays on all kinds 
of topics affecting the game ; contributions 



WHIST IN AMERICA 169 

and letters from Whist writers, and Whist 
players; portraits and biographies ; examples 
of hands and interesting situations ; discus- 
sions of difficult and controverted points ; 
club news and announcements; and gener- 
ally a monthly repository of Whist jottings. 
The advantage of such a journal in keeping 
up the interest in the game is highly appre- 
ciated, and the author of the present work 
has to acknowledge much information, and 
many extracts from it, in regard to Whist in 
America. 1 The journal is ably conducted by 
Mr. Cassius M. Paine, a well-known Whist 
player in Milwaukee. 

But the Americans, not to be behind-hand 
in the literature of Whist, have also produced 
more serious and lengthy writings upon it. 
Passing over some earlier and smaller pub- 
lications, the first of any pretension was a 
" Whist Manual" published in 1890, by Mr. 
Foster, adapted to his system of instruc- 
tion. He has since written another work 
containing a full description of Duplicate 
Whist and an essay on " Whist Strategy." 

In the same year appeared, " A Practical 
Guide to Whist, by the latest Scientific 
Methods. By Fisher Ames." New York, 

1 The ''Whist " Journal will be found at the British Museum, 
and may be subscribed for at Messrs. Mudies\ 15 Coventry 
Street, Piccadilly. 



I70 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

Scribner's Sons (Second edition, 1891). This 
is a handy little book of only about one 
hundred pages. It begins with the follow- 
ing sentence : 

The Theory of Modern Scientific Whist and the argu- 
ments upon which it is based, are now so generally well 
known and understood that no re-statement of them is 
deemed necessary here. 

In accordance with this notice the book 
only professes " to give the rules and direc- 
tions for play in the various contingencies of 
a hand, according to the best authorities." 
And this it does very fairly, adopting the 
American Leads which " having recently been 
greatly developed and improved by Trist, 
" Cavendish," and others into a complete, 
simple, and harmonious system, have entirely 
revolutionized the game." 

In 1894 appeared another pretty little book 
by Mr. Charles E. Coffin, " The Gist of Whist," 
containing useful information, theoretical and 
practical, in a compact form. 

But the great American work, which must 
be hereafter regarded as the fMeja fttftXcov of 
Whist, was published about the middle of 
1894. It is entitled 

Modern Scientific Whist. The Principles of the Mod- 
ern Game Analyzed and Extended. Illustrated by over 



WHIST IN AMERICA 171 

sixty critical endings and annotated games, from actual 
play. By C. D. P. Hamilton. New York : Brentano. 

The author belongs to the Pioneer Club, 
in Pennsylvania, and is well known as one of 
the leading experts in the American Whist 
world : his work amply shows his acquaint- 
ance with the modern American form of 
game. 

It is indeed a "big book/' being a large oc- 
tavo volume, 8 inches long, 6 inches wide, 
and ij inches thick, weighing above 2 lbs. 
There are 609 pages, of a size taking about 
360 words of type: there are 32 chapters, 19 
elaborate tables, and 84 " Pertinent Maxims." 
And it is illustrated by about 470 diagrams, 
many of them containing 20, 30, or 40 cards 
each, all placed in proper positions for study. 

The author, like Mr. Fisher Ames, takes 
all the previous knowledge about Whist for 
granted. He begins at once with u The first 
hand or lead," and although he speaks in his 
title of " scientific " Whist, and of " analyzing 
principles," his book seems to be simply an 
enormous budget of instructions for the prac- 
tical details of play. He adopts, of course, 
all the new latter-day modes of communica- 
tion between the partners, but he largely ex- 
tends the system ; he follows up the influence 
this has on the general play of all the hands, 



172 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

and shows how great this influence has been. 
Indeed, he says (pp. 70, 160), " The new order 
of American leads has revolutionized the 
game and rendered obsolete to a great extent 
the text-books of the day." 

He points out in several places the magni- 
tude of the task a learner has before him 
who would desire to become a proficient in 
the new American game. For example : 

In the play of a single hand at Whist there are so many- 
things to note and so many inferences to draw that few 
players ever become very proficient. Most people who 
play Whist seem to prefer to rest satisfied with an informal 
introduction, as it were, to the cards, and never get upon 
intimate terms with them. (Pp. 24, 25.) 

The correct management of trumps is by far the most 
difficult thing in Whist strategy, and few players ever be- 
come proficient in this regard. (P. 247.) 

Such conditions as these and hundreds of others enter 
into the matter of finesse in trumps and either modify it or 
render finessing out of the question. The varieties of fi- 
nesse are infinite. (Pp. 259, 336.) 

You cannot lay down unvarying rules applicable to the 
finer points of Whist. There are thousands of fine points 
— the delicate touches — that the books may never reach — 
the really splendid things you must learn from practice 
with fine players. (P. 378.) 

To what extent this most elaborate book 
may serve the purpose of teaching Whist may 
probably be better understood in America 
than in England. It would appear to bring 



WHIST IN AMERICA 1 73 

the mode of instruction back to something 
like the form adopted by Hoyle (see ante, 
pages 56 and following), whose teaching con- 
sisted almost entirely of similar specific direc- 
tions for practical play. 

It is a sign of the uncertainty and want of 
finality that still prevails in the Latter-Day 
Game, that although Mr. Hamilton's book is 
founded on the same system that is explained 
in the latest editions of " Cavendish," yet 
there are many points on which the two au- 
thorities do not agree, as may be seen by the 
review of the book in the Field of May 26, 
1894. However, the book is very interest- 
ing, as showing not only the astonishing 
change which the new improvements have 
wrought in the game, but the remarkable 
earnestness with which they appear to be 
studied in the New World. 

POPULARITY OF WHIST IN AMERICA. 

We hardly, however, need this confirma- 
tion of the extraordinary hold that the game 
has taken among the higher educated classes 
in that country. 

In 1892, an article in the " Whist " Journal 
contained the following passages : 

Those whose bent leads them to the more serious and 
careful consideration of things see in the game, with its 



174 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

ever-changing possibilities, an opportunity for an almost 
unlimited exercise of the best faculties. Thus it is that 
in the smallest hamlet wherein the game has acquired a 
foothold its devotees will be found to consist of the re- 
presentative citizens of the locality. The interest in the 
game is spreading on all sides, and the general press, 
during the winter season, chronicles daily the organiza- 
tion of some new Whist club, the giving of Whist enter- 
tainments, the details of matches and Whist doings in 
general. From all sides in this progressive age of a pro- 
gressive country comes the undisputed evidence that the 
greatest of all card games shares in the general advance. 

A later article, 1893, says: 

It is a fact that immediately after the First Whist Con- 
gress Whist experienced a remarkable revival, which has 
spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It has almost 
entirely supplanted trivial games like Euchre, and has 
taken its place in the homes of the people, and is there to 
stay. Everywhere Whist is being played, and generally 
is being played fairly well. As a consequence of this 
wide-spread interest there has been an increased demand 
for anything and everything that will instruct in the proper 
methods of the game. 1 

The very existence of the Whist League is 
of itself proof of this, and its continual in- 
crease shows the permanence of the impres- 
sion. In the First Congress it numbered 36 
clubs, and in the Fourth this number had in- 
creased to 95, with a membership of upwards 
of 14,000 persons. 

1 " Whist" Journal, Vol. III., p. 61. 



WHIST IN AMERICA 175 

" Cavendish," who spent some months in 
1893 at the Congress and among the Whist 
Clubs in various cities, has remarked that 
nothing surprised him more during his visit 
than the wide-spread popularity of the game 
of Whist, and the zeal with which its devotees 
studied its theory and practice. And not 
only were the numbers of players enormous 
and increasing, but the general proficiency in 
play was most remarkable. He has repeat- 
edly declared that there is no sort of com- 
parison to be made between the European 
and the American players — the latter posses- 
sing a general quality of excellence which is 
almost unknown here — or which, at any rate, 
it has been the habit to attribute only to 
exceptional persons like Deschapelles, ap- 
pearing once in an age. 

DIFFICULTIES AND DISPUTES. 

But the American experience with the new 
Latter Day Whist has not been altogether 
smooth ; for within the last year or two some 
difficulties have arisen of such a nature as con- 
siderably to disturb the course of Whist play 
in the States, and to excite much general at- 
tention. 

These difficulties have had chiefly to do 
with what we have described as the peculiar 



176 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

feature of the latter phase of improvement, 
namely, the extension of the means of com- 
munication between the partners. Attention 
had been strongly directed to the American 
leads and other new developments of signal- 
ling, as described in Chapter VIII. ; and some 
players, finding the invention of signals so 
easy, and their use so advantageous to them- 
selves, appear to have asked, " Why should 
the formation of them be monopolised by 
' Cavendish,' or by Trist, or by anybody ? 
Why cannot we make them ourselves for our 
own use ? What need have we for anybody's 
leave to make them or to use them?" And 
no doubt this desire has been fostered by 
opinions, somewhat freely expressed by 
Whist authorities, that the extension and 
multiplication of such signals has been of 
advantage to the game, and has given im- 
pulse to its popularity. 

At any rate, whatever may have been the 
motives, it is a fact that there has been, for 
some time past, a tendency manifested to 
increase the number of such signals, although 
the inventors and introducers of the new 
ones have not usually taken example by 
" Cavendish " and Trist, in either the study and 
consideration given to them, or the caution in 
propounding and using them. These writers 
took pride in showing that the original 



WHIST IN AMERICA 177 

American leads and other developments, al- 
though they involved slight elements of 
novelty, were still legitimately derived by 
analogy from processes of long standing (in 
the same manner as their prototype, the sig- 
nal for trumps), and that they therefore had, 
to this extent, an antecedent justification. 

But their followers appear soon to have 
thrown this kind of consideration overboard, 
and signals began to multiply guided by no 
sort of principle ; so that any item of arbi- 
trary information was proposed to be com- 
municated to the partner by any equally 
arbitrary contrivance in the play, at the mere 
pleasure of the inventor. The evil went on 
increasing, and began to draw other and 
worse evils in its train, until at length it was 
formally brought under public notice. 

In the journal " Whist," Vol. I., page 28, 
July, 1 891, there appeared a letter headed, 
" A Question in Ethics," in which the writer 
stated that two gentlemen whom he met as 
opponents " had a system of play " on which 
he desired an opinion. They had "an under- 
standing between themselves which they 
neither specially concealed nor specially 
mentioned," extending apparently to several 
new modes of signalling. These players 
" claimed that any agreement they might 
make, which might be expressed by play- 
12 



178 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

ing the cards openly above the table, was 
proper." 

The Editor, in publishing this letter, in- 
vited the expression of opinion on the point 
in his journal, and the invitation led to a cor- 
respondence which has become notable in the 
history of modern Whist. Between July, 
1891, and April, 1892, eleven communications 
appeared, 1 mostly from well-known players. 
The last one defended " the practice of pri- 
vate card -signals between partners "; and 
added, " Partners who practice such systems 
being upright gentlemen, of course think it 
right ; and I doubt not that numberless 
others, who have never thought of the matter 
before, will, on due reflection, arrive at the 
same conclusion." 

This letter appears to have stopped the 
discussion for some time. At the next Whist 
Congress, held in Chicago in June, 1893, no 
notice appears to have been publicly taken of 
the matter ; but we may suppose it to have 
been privately thought and talked of, and, at 
any rate, the discussion was revived in the 
" Whist " journal. In the number for Decem- 
ber, 1893 (Vol. III., p. 108), the President of 
the American Whist League, Mr. Eugene S. 
Elliott, published a letter inviting further ex- 
pression of opinion, and explaining his own 

1 See "Whist," Vol. I., pages 28, 35, 36, 39, 76, 101, 102, 167. 



WHIST IN AMERICA 179 

view, which was, " that while every club 
should be privileged, in the League matches, 
to use such conventionalities as it deems 
proper, notice should be given to the other 
contestants when such convention is an in- 
novation on established methods." The Ed- 
itor of " Whist," Mr. Cassius M. Paine, wrote 
" A Counter View," but still inviting thor- 
ough discussion. 

These renewed invitations brought thirty- 
seven more letters, from nearly all the lead- 
ing Whist men of America, and from some 
English authorities. 1 About three-fourths of 
these unhesitatingly condemned the prac- 
tice : some strongly deprecated it as unfair, 
while others merely disapproved of it as be- 
ing useless and of no advantage. To show 
that the matter was really of practical im- 
portance, many letters testified to the actual 
existence and increase of the practice. 2 And 
comparing these revelations with others 
(see article in "Whist," Vol. II., p. 118, on 
" Whist Partnerships and Exclusiveness "), 
to the effect that a custom was getting into 
vogue of what were called " rigid partner- 
ships," where " two men have the privilege 

1 See " Whist," Vol. III., pp. 108, 109, 132, 141, 156 to 158, 166 
to 173, 185, 192, 201 to 203. 

2 See letters in " Whist," Vol. III., from Mr. Tormey, p. 133; 
Mr. Stevens, ibid. ; Mr. Le Roy Smith, p. 134 ; Mr. Work, p. 135 ; 
Mr. Gurley, p. 138 ; Mr. Richards, p. 140. 



ISO LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

of playing all the time with each other," and 
" can adopt any system of play they want to," 
the matter became more serious. 

Among the American objectors to the new 
proposal were Mr. Elliott, the President; 
Mr. Schwarz, the Secretary, and many of 
the Executive Committee of the American 
Whist League; Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Fisher 
Ames, and Mr. Coffin, authors of the Whist 
books already mentioned ; and Mr. Foster, 
the Whist Teacher. Among the English- 
men on the same side were " Cavendish," 
Mr. Matthias Boyce (" Mogul "), and Dr. J. 
J. P. Hewby (" Pembridge "). " Cavendish " 
called to mind his own practice when he was 
introducing the " penultimate " lead. He 
had said in his description : 

My partner and I refrained from leading from inter- 
mediate sequences, as we considered that mode of leading 
would amount to a private signal and would not be fair 
to opponents not acquainted with it. . . . As others 
dropped in we were obliged in honour to explain the 
method we were adopting, leaving them to play it or not, 
as they pleased. This was, of course, to avoid a charge 
of unfairness owing to a private system of leading. 

Among the supporters of the secret signals 
were some good and well-known names; 
and in justice to them it is worth while to 
extract a few passages showing the argu- 



WHIST IN AMERICA l8l 

ments by which their proposition was sup- 
ported. 

Mr. Fenollosa, its principal advocate (Vol. 
I., p. 167), after explaining that a player may 
play any card he pleases, so long as he con- 
forms to the elementary construction of the 
game, continues, 

But, say the objectors, the card must not carry with it 
any secret meaning of which the adversaries are ignorant. 
Why may it not ? On what ground my adversaries can 
claim the right to know the meaning of each card that I 
play, I cannot conceive ! As well expect a chess-player 
to say to his antagonist, " My dear Sir, will you kindly tell 
me your reasons for making your last move, so that I may 
know how to act ? " Do not my partner and myself at a 
hand of whist constitute a unit, a single opposing force 
directed against the adverse unit with the intention of try- 
ing to outwit it by every legitimate means, that is, by 
any means furnished solely by the cards as they lawfully 
fall ? And have we not the same right to arrange our 
plans of attack before the game that the chess-player has 
to patiently study an opening in private, hoping that he 
may discover moves which his opponent will not success- 
fully parry at the board ? 

[If our opponents do this] they are not indulging in secret 
acts hidden from us ; the acts and the circumstances are 
patent to all at the end of the hand. It is only the mo- 
tives that have been kept secret. It is this entire absence 
of secret or unlawful deed that marks the difference be- 
tween these " unfair collusions " and the loading of dice, 
to which one of your correspondents compared them. 

If " a code for informatory play " is the only method 
of uprooting the evil, it will have to be accepted as a 



1 82 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

necessary one, for Whist players as a body will never 
consent to the degradation of such abject servitude. And 
if they did, they would be sounding the death-knell of the 
art : for the impossibility of its further development would 
quickly destroy that keen interest in it which is at present 
manifested by its votaries. 

In a later article (Vol. III., pp. 137-8) he 
said : 

The indignation so freely expressed by many against 
private conventions is based on a most absurd fallacy, 
namely, that a player has any claim whatever on his ad- 
versary's play, so far as getting information from it is con- 
cerned. 

. . . If I have a lead that I think will secure tricks 
and know will inform my partner, why am I not to make 
it? 

And in another letter, pp. 190, 191, he 
said : 

If we could inform our partner and at the same 
time deceive our adversaries, would we not consider 
Whist to have reached the ideal stage of development ? 
This disposes of the objection on the score of secrecy. 
Nobody will claim that the previous preparation away 
from the Whist table is the bugbear, since the studying 
of any Whist maxim in the books would be open to the 
same objection. And if neither in the secrecy nor in 
the forehandedness, wherein does the wrong lie ? . . . 
The common-sense view of the matter is that my card 
may legitimately convey to my partner any information 
that his knowledge of my methods admits of, provided 
that the information could as well be imparted if my card 
were laid upon the table by one of Clay's " Machines." 



WHIST IN AMERICA 183 

Mr. Work, p. 136, said: 

A team that uses such private conventions (provided, 
of course, that they are useful ones, and cleverly devised) 
has an immense advantage over a team of equal strength 
that merely plays the game of Whist as it is written in the 
books. ... If a man, or a combination of men, have 
the ability to devise a new system of leads or plays which 
increases their trick-taking ability, why should they not be 
allowed to benefit by the inventive powers of their brains, 
without being compelled either to disclose their invention 
to the whole world or else abandon it ? In no similar 
game, nor in fact in any of the more earnest pursuits of life, 
is this doctrine followed. [Examples of football, cricket, 
patent rights, etc., are given.] ... I believe, therefore, 
that it would be wise for the American Whist League to 
officially declare that all private conventions (that consist, 
of course, merely of plays and combinations) shall be con- 
sidered legitimate. I believe this, because to pursue the 
opposite course with practical benefit at present, seems im- 
possible, and, even if possible, to be contrary to the best 
interests of the game. 

In the May number of 1894, as the meet- 
ing of the Whist Congress was coming on, 
Mr. Elliott and the Editor intimated the 
closure of the discussion, and the latter dep- 
recated any legislation on the matter. He 
said : 

I think we must keep natural rights in mind and so 
avoid encroachments on personal liberty. ... I 
believe that those who indulge in private conventional- 
ities wear fools' caps ; but I also believe that their eman- 



1 84 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

cipation should be voluntary and not coercive. They can 
be brought into the fold much quicker by experiment and 
persuasion than they can be by persecution. 

This and other circumstances led to some 
expectation that the subject would be taken 
up and dealt formally with by the Whist 
League, which was soon about to meet 
at Philadelphia. The Congress took place, 
but there is no record that the subject was 
mentioned officially. It must have been 
in the minds of many influential members, 
and it is probable that if any measure had 
been proposed there would have been a 
large preponderance of opinion against the 
secret system. But the League had, no 
doubt, good grounds for their inaction, and it 
was believed that, after such a thorough pub- 
lic discussion, the wide discountenance given 
to the new proposal would check its prac- 
tice. 1 

But this remarkable outburst of zeal for 
the further Evolution of Whist ought not 
to be allowed to pass without some observa- 
tions, particularly as it was supported by a 
very respectable minority of American play- 
ers. And it may be well to consider the pro- 

1 The publicity of this discussion, and the attention it com- 
manded, were entirely due to the " Whist " journal, and formed 
an excellent example of the utility of such a periodical. 



WHIST IN AMERICA 1 85 

posal, first as regards its ethical features, and 
afterwards as affecting the working char- 
acter of the game generally. 

The ethical matter is not difficult to deal 
with if properly approached. It should be 
recollected that the choice of ethical rules 
must be always a voluntary matter among 
those playing a game, and that any coterie 
of players are free to sanction and adopt, in 
their own circle, any rules they like. The 
difficulty here seems to be that the advocates 
wished to thrust the proposed secret signal- 
ling into the ordinary Whist circles as some- 
thing consistent with the ethical ideas at 
present prevailing in them. These ideas 
have never been strictly formulated, but it is 
not difficult to gather them from history. 
They have been subject to Evolution, like 
Whist itself. 

The essential difficulty to be met in the 
game of Whist always has been, and is still, 
♦he fact of all the cards except the player's 
own (and the turn-up when he is not the 
dealer) being concealed from him. There 
are two games called dummy and doiible-dinn- 
my, where some or all of them are exposed, 
but these are not Whist, in the sense we are 
considering it here. 

In the Primitive Game this difficulty was 
simply ignored. The player considered his 



1 86 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

own hand alone, and did the best he could 
with it. 

In the following era, however, the ideas 
were changed. Hoyle soon saw the influ- 
ence that the concealed cards had on the art 
of trick-making; he taught the policy of con- 
sidering them, though they could not be 
seen ; and he showed the possibility of in- 
ferring, to some extent, w r hat any hand con- 
tained, by the cards which fell from that 
hand in the course of play. This was the 
great lesson of attention to the " fall of the 
cards " which w r e have described as being 
one of the most salient features of his in- 
struction. 

Matthews made a step further by insisting 
on the special importance and advantage of 
the two partners endeavouring to facilitate 
the legitimate intercommunication of knowl- 
edge as to their hands. But it is quite clear 
that there w r as a stringent ethical view pre- 
vailing as to the nature of this intercommuni- 
cation. It is on record that before Hoyle's 
active intervention, it had been discovered 
that if a player knew, even to a small extent, 
what cards his partner held, he could make 
useful application of his knowledge ; persons 
were not wanting who invented secret and 
surreptitious modes of communication be- 
tween the two, and these became practised 



WHIST IN AMERICA 1 8/ 

to such an extent as to bring the game into 
well-merited disrepute. It was one of the 
most earnest objects of Hoyle to correct 
these abuses, and we may take it as an estab- 
lished ethical principle at that time (sup- 
ported indeed by the Moral Philosophy of 
Paley) that no player should get any infor- 
mation, as to the concealed hands, beyond 
what the whole table could get by legitimate 
inference from the " fall of the cards." 

It was only in the Philosophical Game that 
the communications between the partners 
assumed their full importance, and were 
properly provided for ; and it is desirable 
here to refer briefly to our former descrip- 
tion of how this was done. The general sys- 
tem of play having been settled, by practice 
and experiment, rules were carefully drawn 
up, having for their chief object the promo- 
tion of trick-making and successful play gen- 
erally ; and for the sake of the information 
element, directions were further devised for 
the careful, uniform, and consistent play of 
small or indifferent cards, to which no im- 
mediate trick-making motive applied. 

But in order that these carefully devised 
rules should properly facilitate the communi- 
cation of information, it was of course neces- 
sary that both partners should know them 
and use them, and this led to a mutual under- 



1 88 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

standing between good players that the rules 
should be generally followed ; in pursuance 
of which understanding any player could 
rely that certain inferences might be drawn 
from his partner's play. Thus, for example, 
it was a mutual understanding that the play- 
er's first plain-suit lead should be his best 
one ; that he should play, when not leading, 
the lowest of a sequence ; that he should re- 
turn the higher of two cards remaining ; and 
so on. 

Thus, although the rule was the basis and 
guide of the communication, yet the mutual 
understanding was the necessary means of 
its conveyance ; and it will be evident that 
neither in the rules, nor in the mutual under- 
standing to use them, was there anything to 
contravene, in the slightest degree, the ethi- 
cal stipulation above referred to. 

Then came another step in the Evolution, 
which took place during the development of 
the Philosophical Game. It appeared to the 
club players that it might be useful to widen 
a little the scope of the mutual understand- 
ing, to make it include a conventional exten- 
sion, to new circumstances, of a previous nat- 
ural mode of play. Cases had frequently 
occurred where the unnecessary playing of 
a high card before a lower one naturally in- 
timated a desire on the part of the player to 



WHIST IN AMERICA 1 89 

get trumps led ; and this gave rise to a prop- 
osition that a similar mode of play in any 
case should, according to the mutual under- 
standing, be interpreted in the same way. 
This widening of the mutual understanding 
was at first objected to, but was ultimately 
approved and adopted — and thus there be- 
came established a novel form of communi- 
cation, which was characterized as a " Sig- 
nal ; " the artifice in question being first called 
jocosely the " Blue Peter," and afterwards, 
more soberly, the " Signal for Trumps." 
The principle applied in this change formed 
a germ from which have sprung almost all 
the developments in the Latter-Day Whist. 

This step in the Evolution involved a 
slight ethical relaxation, as it enabled the 
player to give some kinds of information 
which he could not legally give before ; and 
this was, no doubt, the cause of the objec- 
tions made to it. But, after full discussion 
and long experience, the change was ap- 
proved and admitted, as a legitimate condi- 
tion of the game. 

It has, however, had the effect of stimu- 
lating the proposal of a further step in ad- 
vance. It would seem to be the idea of 
many players that the " mutual understand- 
ing " should be widened still more, so as to 
sanction the communication of any arbitrary 



190 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

knozvledge whatever, by any arbitrary signal 
(which can be contrived in the play of cards), 
without reference to any principle or anal- 
ogy of any kind. This idea has been de- 
fended by Clay's remark (p. 110), " It is fair 
to give to your partner any intimation which 
could be given if the cards were placed on 
the table each exactly in the same manner as 
the others by a machine." But the context 
clearly shows that these intimations were in- 
tended to be only inferences from acknowl- 
edged rules, and not mere arbitrary items of 
information dictated at the will of the player. 

It is difficult to say to what extent this last- 
named kind of signalling is in use, or how far 
it may have received the sanction of Whist 
players ; but there appears no justification 
for assuming that such an ethical latitude 
has yet received general approval. 

Now we have here three fairly well defined 
stages of the application of the " mutual un- 
derstanding " to the communication of in- 
formation between the partners. 

The first is absolutely simple, nothing be- 
ing done beyond agreeing to give attention 
to certain rules of normal play, designed 
either directly to promote trick-making, or 
to ensure regularity and uniformity. 

The second stage involves what is called, 
" signalling ; " it implies that something 



WHIST IN AMERICA 191 

special and abnormal is to be communicated 
to the partner ; but this is of a nature arising 
analogically out of normal play, and is com- 
municated by corresponding modes, publicly 
known and agreed to. 

The third, or doubtful stage, is an extension 
of the second to devices of an entirely arbi- 
trary character. 

But there is now this most important fact 
to be observed, that throughout all these 
phases of the Evolution, even in the last 
named, the mutual understanding has been 
general with all the players. We fail entirely 
to find any case, till now, where it has been 
even proposed to limit it to a secret under- 
standing between two partners only, of which 
the other two players are ignorant and have 
no means of acquiring knowledge. Such an 
arrangement must be considered as an entire 
contravention or infraction of Paley's funda- 
mental ethical principle, that neither party 
should have a surreptitious advantage over 
the other ; and it therefore can only be 
properly used in a club or circle which has 
specially admitted such a relaxation of the 
ethical standard. 

The supporters of the proposition for se- 
cret signalling lay great stress on their inti- 
mations being communicated by the order of 
play of the cards, which they say is visible 



192 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

to everybody ; but as the ethical irregularity 
really lies in the use of a communication be- 
tween A and B which is purposely concealed 
from X and Y, the manner in which this is 
given cannot affect its essential character. 

The arguments urged in favour of the secret 
signalling merely amount to an assertion 
that, so long as the partners adhere to the 
elementary structure, they have a right to 
take any measures they please to try to 
win. But the advocates forget that an essen- 
tial and fundamental feature of the game 
has always been the difficulty caused by the 
concealment of the cards. The means of 
overcoming this difficulty have consisted in 
skilful inferences from Avhat is seen ; and 
though, in the most modern developments 
this has been aided by the signal system, such 
aid has been only given by public knowledge 
and approval. To introduce, therefore, new 
and secret aids, becomes a further change 
in the fundamental conditions of Whist, for 
which, as in the earlier forms of signalling, the 
consent of all the players should be obtained. 

But assuming the proposed secrecy to be 
abandoned, it is worth while to consider how 
the character of the game w r ould be likely to 
be affected by a large and indefinite multipli- 
cation of signals. A perusal of the corre- 



WHIST IN AMERICA 193 

spondence in the " Whist Journal " shows a 
very general opinion that this would be an ad- 
vantage to the progress of the game, and that 
consequently the unlimited invention of them 
should be encouraged, provided that they 
are made known. But here comes the diffi- 
culty ; if they are to be created wholesale 
and indiscriminately, how are they to be made 
known? how are the great mass of players 
to be instructed about them ? And would 
not this difficulty probably lead, in time, to a 
selection of such as were found to be most 
generally conducive to the interests of the 
game ; and to some authoritative exclusive 
recommendation of them ? 

It would seem desirable that, now that 
" Signalling " at Whist has become so com- 
mon, some greater attention should be paid 
to the different kinds of signal that may be 
used ; and that some distinction should be 
drawn between them. It is odd how few of 
the writers who took part in the discussion 
appeared to notice this point. The Ameri- 
cans, taking hold of the fact of the " mutual 
understanding " necessary to communicate 
information between the partners, include 
under the name of " Conventionalities " 1 all 
sorts of information, making no distinction 
between an inference drawn from the normal 

1 See Definition in Hamilton's Book. 
13 



194 LATTER-DAY IMPROVEMENTS 

play of a card for ordinary general expe- 
diency, and an arbitrary interpretation of 
it, which only acquires meaning by special 
compact between the partners. They for- 
get that while the former is as old as Hoyle, 
and is an essential element of Whist play, the 
latter is of quite recent introduction ; and 
that while the former is a fixed thing, of 
limited logical necessity, the latter has a ten- 
dency, under Whist enthusiasm, to extend its 
range and to encroach in its character, to 
any degree. 

It is to this tendency that the whole of 
the present difficulty is due ; and it confirms 
the ideal remedy of some check being given 
to the indefinite multiplication of arbitrary 
signals. 

It is curious to contrast the present strong 
opinion in favour of the multiplication of 
signals with that quoted in page 128 as given 
at the time of the first introduction of the 
signal for trumps. We are there told that 
the inventor often said that " he bitterly re- 
gretted his ingenuity, which had deprived 
him of one-half of the advantage which he de- 
rived from his superior play." Here are two 
opinions diametrically opposed. Do these 
signals encourage or discourage fine play ? 

The question is worth study. Suppose 
some of the best players in America (and 



WHIST IN AMERICA 195 

" Cavendish " says they are the best in the 
world) were to try for a month the experi- 
ment of playing Whist as it was played be- 
fore the Trump signal was introduced, taking 
care not to allow any communication from 
one partner to the other, except by the 
strictest and most natural interpretation of 
the normal fall of the cards. Would they 
find any diminished opportunity for the ex- 
ercise of their skill ? 

If such a cacoethes for signalling as now pre- 
vails should continue to spread, its logical out- 
come would be for each player to hand over 
his cards for his partner to look at before the 
play begins. This would be quite admissible 
if agreed to by all parties, but it would be a 
new game, and certainly no improvement on 
the one we are accustomed to. 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 

Let us now, in conclusion, sum up what 
we have been considering in regard to the 
Evolution of Whist, and endeavour to make 
some practical suggestions in regard thereto. 

We have found that the game arose from 
small beginnings, some three centuries ago, 
and has gradually developed into a struc- 
ture of great intellectual interest. The 
process of Evolution has been very gradual, 
brought about by the influence of earnest 
and powerful minds ; but as commonly hap- 
pens, it has at different epochs taken definite 
forms, which were, for the time being, of 
some duration, and have to a certain extent 
remained still in existence. 

We have noticed four steps or stages mark- 
ing the progress, and producing four varie- 
ties of game, all really Whist, but Whist in 
different degrees of development. And the 
great aim of our work in this investigation has 
been to consider the nature of these, and to 
show that they are each of sufficiently definite 
structure to justify their separate existence. 



200 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 

The later forms have, indeed, grown out of 
the earlier ones, but have not necessarily ex- 
tinguished or abolished them. The admirers 
of any late step are perfectly justified in 
showing its superiority to the one before it, 
but there is room enough in the world for 
both to continue to exist side by side. 

We, therefore, admit of the possibility, and 
indeed of the expediency, of all these forms 
remaining in existence and in use by the 
players who prefer them. 

They often run into each other, as do gen- 
era and species in the animal and vegetable 
world, and accordingly there are players 
who will mix two of the varieties. For in- 
stance, a player of the Primitive Game may 
have acquired some of Hoyle's maxims ; or a 
Hoyle player will have learned some of the 
Philosophical principles ; or a Philosophical 
Game player may adopt some of the latter- 
day improvements. These are natural varia- 
tions, rather proving the rule than forming 
exceptions. 

We notice, as the first stage, the simple 
structure which we have called the Primitive 
Game ; the earliest practical expression of 
the elementary form. 

This is as wide apart from the latter-day 
structure as are the poles asunder; but still it 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 201 

is really a form of Whist, and there are mul- 
titudes of persons at the present moment 
who practise it and enjoy it. And why 
should they not? We may tell them that 
more intellectual forms may be found ; but if 
they lack either the capacity or inclination 
to learn them, it is their affair and not ours. 

The persons who play this kind of game 
have been induced to adopt it probably by 
association with some of their friends, and as 
requiring the minimum of exertion to learn ; 
they being in fact frightened by hearing of 
the difficulties and complications of the 
higher forms. And no doubt these induce- 
ments will continue to operate ; so that, not- 
withstanding all the improvements that have 
been made and may continue to be made, this 
form of game will continue in existence, and 
may find many amiable votaries in domestic 
life. 

But, of course, in addressing students who 
are really desirous to take up Whist as an 
intellectual exercise, we cannot recommend 
them to begin with this form of game, sim- 
ply because we can direct them to much bet- 
ter and more satisfactory objects for their 
study. 

Then we make a great step to the Game of 
Hoyle, and there are also multitudes of per- 



202 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 

sons who practise this, and find it give good 
scope for their intellectual powers. We 
might say to them, " Look at the more ad- 
vanced step, the Philosophical Game ; you 
will find that it contains all that is good in the 
Hoyle Game, but that instead of depending 
so much on the volition of the player, it is 
reduced to a system, so as to make its prin- 
ciples understood and practised by a larger 
circle. " But the Hoyle player will probably 
answer, " It may be so, but I do not like or 
want your improvement. I decline to sub- 
mit my play to the tyranny of systematic 
rules and principles, or to the fancies of my 
partner. I prefer the freedom of acting as 
my own judgment may direct me ; I do not 
approve your combined action, I can take 
care of myself; I shall play what I think prop- 
er, and my partner may do the same. Take 
your philosophy to the women and the tyros 
for whom you wrote it, and do not bring it to 
me." 

A player of this school glories in never 
having looked into a book, and despises book 
knowledge ; he objects to system altogether, 
arguing that the play should be dictated by 
personal judgment alone. He will often lead 
from short suits — or will lead trumps when 
weak ; or abstain from leading them when 
strong ; or will refuse to return his partner's 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 203 

lead in them ; or in fact, will do anything 
that he thinks may best suit his own hand. 

These persons, though they do not adopt 
the most approved system, are not to be 
considered bad players. They often show- 
careful attention, practice, and natural ability ; 
they are very observant, recollect and cal- 
culate well, draw shrewd inferences as to 
how the cards lie, and generally are adepts 
in all the accidental features of good play. 
They take pride in their own skill, which 
they object to make subservient to the will 
of a partner inferior to themselves. 

The proper thing to say of a player of this 
school is that he does not play the same game 
as that of " Cavendish" and Clay; he plays 
the earlier one of Hoyle. And why should he 
not, if that suits his character and tastes 
better than the newer one ? 

Many persons who are attached to this 
form of game refuse to acknowledge the 
value of any subsequent changes, holding the 
opinion that personal skill will give every 
further advantage possible. Indeed it is not 
unusual to find Whist writers of the present 
day, having good claims to consideration, 
who advocate and recommend what would 
be essentially a return to the Hoyle game. 

But, although this game may captivate 
the attention of certain classes of people, 



204 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 

and so remain in flourishing estate, if any 
one wishes to learn Whist ab initio, we can- 
not now recommend him to begin by study- 
ing Hoyle or Payne or Matthews ; not from 
any objection to these admirable works, but 
simply because the march of Evolution has 
put within his reach educational methods of 
an easier character. 

At the next grade, the Philosophical Game, 
we arrive at the culminating point of the de- 
velopment, so far as the general structure is 
concerned. It embodies the highest idea of 
the game ; and though it has been followed 
by another evolutionary stage, the latter re- 
fers rather to improvements in detail than to 
changes of general structure. 

And it is to the Philosophical form of game 
that the attention of students must be earliest 
and most earnestly directed, for two reasons 
— first, because it is the most teachable form, 
depending so much on easily acquired prin- 
ciples ; and, secondly, because all matters of 
detail, whether in the preceding or succeed- 
ing forms, can be better acquired and appre- 
ciated after the fundamental principles have 
become familiar. 

At this point, therefore, we may offer a 
few words of advice to those who are anxious 
to learn Whist, beginning on this basis. 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 205 

First, then, we may say to the student, you 
must be convinced that you have something 
to study, and that practice alone, in your un- 
taught state, will never make you a first-rate 
player. The great feature of the Philosophi- 
cal Game is that it is founded on sound logi- 
cal general principles, with which, as a mat- 
ter of theory, you must make yourself well 
acquainted. You will study the general 
nature of the combined system, and learn how 
this is made to bear on all the course of play ; 
and if you approach the subject with a docile 
disposition, you will be surprised to find how 
easy this knowledge is to acquire. The sup- 
posed difficulties only arise from its clashing 
with preconceived notions. Some few ex- 
planations embody its main features, and 
when their spirit is once impressed on the 
mind, the great portion of the preliminary 
learning is done. 

When you have become thoroughly famil- 
iar with the nature of the system on which 
the game is founded, you will be in a position 
to learn how it is carried out in practice, and 
this at first may be well accomplished by 
studying model hands and examples, of which 
you will find plenty in " Cavendish's " several 
books; in the " Self - Playing Hands," pub- 
lished by Mr. Foster; in the " Whist" Jour- 
nal, and elsewhere. These will bring you in 



206 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 

contact with the accidents of play, and with the 
peculiarities of different situations. Sound 
practical works such as Drayson's " Practical 
Whist " will help you, and you may look 
back with advantage at the instructions of 
the older authorities, Hoyle and Matthews. 
In this way you will find the field opening 
for your personal practice, which you can 
then intelligently follow. 

This course of education will give you 
a command of the right principles to ad- 
here to. It will teach you generally how 
your own hand should be played so as to 
gain the best advantage from it ; how you 
may give the best assistance to your partner 
in the process of playing his hand ; how to 
weaken and obstruct your adversaries ; and 
how best to meet their hostile manifes- 
tations. And when you have become tho- 
roughly acquainted with all this you will be 
what is called a sound player. Good players 
will know they can depend upon your inti- 
mations, and will therefore esteem you as a 
good and eligible partner ; and you may ac- 
cordingly mix with confidence in good Whist 
circles. 

But this is not all that is to be desired ; 
there is something of importance beyond. 
It is not enough to have a sound knowledge 
of the system, and of its general application, 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 207 

but you must be prepared to encounter all 
the continually varying events that turn up 
in play, and to meet them in the most advan- 
tageous way. And here come into requisition 
your own personal and individual mental 
powers ; your acuteness of observation ; your 
readiness in drawing logical inferences ; your 
power of memory ; your promptness in de- 
cision of action ; and your soundness in 
judgment. All this is comprised in what is 
known as personal skill ; the large possession 
of w T hich (always in addition to soundness in 
the knowledge of system) will constitute a 
fine player — a true master in Whist. 

Let us look at these requisites a little. 
First, Observation. You must, if you are to 
be perfect in this, observe, in the first place, 
the cards your partner plays, and next those 
that the opponents play. The secret of this 
is, absolutely perfect attention. " Cavendish," in 
his talks with the Americans explaining his 
mode of play, laid the greatest stress on this. 
He said : " If my partner's first lead to me is 
the five of spades, my attention is so strongly 
rivetted to that fact, that if anybody were to 
tell me the house was on fire it would not 
drive the five of spades out of my mind." 
And so, the attention must be fixed, more or 
less strongly, on every card your partner 
plays, and on every card the adversaries 



208 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 

play. It is true that all those cards are not 
of equal import, but they ought all to be ob- 
served, that you may judge what they imply. 
It is clear that in order to accomplish this, 
even in a moderate degree, your mind must 
be free, and fixed only on your game ; if 
your thoughts are worried or occupied by 
outside subjects, this element of skill is quite 
unattainable. 

Then as to the inferences, it is supposed 
you are, by your knowledge of system, ca- 
pable of drawing these ; but in practice it 
must be done promptly ; indeed, the advice 
is, " draw your inferences at the time the card 
is played," and let your mind be impressed, 
not only with the card played, but with what 
it implies. 

The next requisite is memory. This is the 
bugbear of beginners. In the Primitive Game, 
if a player holds a King, his chief effort is 
to remember the fall of the Ace when it 
occurs; and so he thinks that a more compli- 
cated game must consist in a multiplication 
of such efforts of memory. But it has often 
been pointed out that if any fact in play 
has been duly observed, the memory can hard- 
ly fail to record it ; so that what is thought 
to be want of memory is really only want 
of due observation. In the early forms of 
game there were only a few facts to be no- 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 209 

ticed ; in the modern game, properly speak- 
ing, every card played ought to be observed 
and remembered. But since this is an almost 
superhuman effort, the plan is recommended 
that you confine at first your special atten- 
tion to some of the most important things, 
such as the trump suit, the high cards of 
your own chief suit, your partner's suit, his 
discards, and so on, gradually increasing the 
range of observation as your experience in- 
creases. And you will find that the problem 
before you really consists, not in remember- 
ing certain isolated facts, as the beginners 
suppose, but in the power of marshalling a 
number of different inferences together, con- 
veniently for reference, and ready for use at 
the instant when they are required. 

We now come to the two last features of 
skill : viz., promptness of decision and sound- 
ness of judgment, and these are qualities of 
quite a different character; for a player may 
have in his mind a store of inferences from 
what is past, but on a sudden call to play, 
toward the end of a hand, he may find him- 
self in a difficulty. The time is past for the 
application of rules, which generally only 
apply to the early part of a hand; he must 
now be guided only by what the u fall of the 
cards " has revealed ; and he not only has 
to judge what is best to be done, but has 
14 



210 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 

to do it instantly, as he cannot keep the ta- 
ble waiting while he considers. Truly, this 
is a high demand on a man's ability ; and it 
is a thing which cannot be taught. All that 
can be recommended to the student is that 
(in addition to frequent practice with the 
best players he can find) he should make him- 
self familiar with good published hands, and 
so provide himself with a store of examples 
ready for application when required. 

In all these points your progress will be 
gradual, and you must not be discouraged 
by finding that you often make mistakes. 
And it is useful to observe that there are 
several kinds of errors which (though scold- 
ing partners never bear this in mind) differ 
much in their importance. 

You may commit infractions of the book 
rules, such as by leading wrongly, playing 
false cards, not returning trumps, forcing 
your partner improperly, and so on. These 
are errors of form, which are culpable and 
ought to be reproved. 

Or you may play badly and wrongly in 
many ways from neglecting to take advan- 
tage of the fall of the cards. These are er- 
rors of observation or memory ', which should 
be viewed more leniently. 

Or, having duly observed, you may play 
disadvantageously by some error of judg- 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 211 

ment, which is still more excusable. Even 
good players are liable to such errors, and it 
has been said of Whist players, as Napoleon 
said of his generals, " Those are the best who 
make the fewest blunders." Clay sometimes 
declared that he won more by his adversa- 
ries* mistakes than by his own skill. * 

Now looking over these elements of per- 
sonal skill, and considering the immense 
amount of intellectual action they imply, we 
cannot but admit the applicability to our 
present circumstances of the sage remark 
made by Matthews nearly a century ago ; 
that though " attentive study and practice 
will, in some degree, ensure success, yet ge- 
nius must be added before the whole finesse 
of the game can be acquired," z>., before the 
master strokes of skill can be added that con- 
stitute a fine player. Even in this age, when 
so many well-cultivated minds are engaged, 
very few such players are found. We may 
truly apply the adage of Horace : 

Non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum. 

It is not given to every man to attain to first-rate dis- 
tinction. 

The powers required are not at every 
man's command ; they require special natural 

1 See Philosophy of Whist, pp. 84, 85. 



212 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 

mental gifts, without which no amount of 
teaching, or study, or practice, will produce 
them. 

But after all there is the great consolation 
that these high mental requirements only ap- 
ply to the Whist element of personal skill in 
its higher grades. The other and the more 
important element, i.e., the knowledge of sys- 
tem, has no such limitations. Any person of 
ordinary intelligence may, by study and prac- 
tice, master this branch of the subject, and 
become a sound player. And, no doubt, with 
the same modicum of mental power, he may 
also advance a certain degree in the more 
difficult paths ; so that although he may not 
take the first rank, he may still earn the char- 
acter of quite a good Whist player, and an 
especially desirable partner. 

We now come, finally, to the latest phase 
of Whist Evolution, The Latter-day Improve- 
ments, consisting substantially of the Philo- 
sophical Game, but with the addition of 
many complex additions of minute detail. 
We have shown, as due to our American 
cousins, with what energy and enthusiasm 
the latter-day Whist has been taken up in 
their country, and we have only here to 
make some remarks on its position on this 
side of the Atlantic. 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 21 3 

There can be no doubt that the gradual 
progress of this phase of the Evolution has 
been, viewed with much interest, and with 
some favour, in this country, as is proved 
by the wide acceptance of many of the earlier 
changes. The lead of the penultimate from 
five, for example, soon took root, and has 
now become very general. The extension to 
the more complete American Leads, is also 
now tolerably well known. The echo of the 
trump call too, and the systems of unblock- 
ing, are often played. These things seem to 
show a leaning, among English Whist play- 
ers, towards more extended communications 
which, when they become better known and 
more fully acknowledged, may probably be 
admitted into English Whist in good circles. 

Although, however, we know that many 
good players have studied and approved the 
new forms generally, it cannot yet be said 
that they have become so popular as to im- 
ply the full reception of the whole system. 
" Cavendish," in his reported conversations 
while in America, has attributed this chiefly 
to the national British conservative feeling, 
and probably this may have some retarding 
influence. But there are other elements 
which should not be lost sight of. 

In the first place, the slow progress of the 
Latter-day Improvements in this country 



214 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 

may be clue partly to the difficulty of their 
acquirement. When the Trump signal was 
introduced, the great players complained that 
it made Whist too easy. But this cannot be 
said of its sequela. " Cavendish " himself said 
(" Whist Developments," p. 2) : 

No doubt moderate players may lack the quick percep- 
tion which would enable them to take advantage of the 
American rules [and a fortiori of the many since added] 
. . . Whether the student will ever be able to profit 
by the application of such rules must depend on his apti- 
tude for the game. 

And a glance at the newest description of 
the latter-day Whist, namely, Mr. Hamil- 
ton's book (see ante, pp. 170 to 173), in which 
the details are extended far beyond " Caven- 
dish's " limits, must still further tend to dis- 
courage its study, except by those who bring 
to it the American zeal and enthusiasm. 

And there is another consideration pecu- 
liar to England, namely, that here Whist is 
always played for money ; for the zeal which 
has led the Americans, in their great Whist 
festivals, to abolish stakes and to play for the 
mere love of the game, has not yet spread 
to this side of the ocean. Heretofore, with 
Hoyle's or the Philosophical Game, the differ- 
ence between the results of mediocre and of 
accomplished skill (tempered as it has been 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 21 5 

by the large preponderance of luck at Short 
Whist with full honours), has been so mod- 
erate that the players would not hesitate to 
risk it for the excitement of the chance 
events. But with the new game, the pre- 
ponderance of skill, under the new facilities 
of communication, might become so largely 
augmented as considerably to modify this 
aspect of the play. 

Then the example of the American experi- 
ence has not been altogether encouraging. 
The remarkable proceedings which have 
lately attracted attention, involving proposals 
to introduce serious changes in the ethical 
conditions of the game of Whist, have not 
been lost on careful observers here ; and in the 
face of the differences of opinion revealed 
thereby, the new developments can hardly be 
expected to make so much way here as the 
merits of their invention would deserve. 

In the meantime, however, it is probable 
that as the really meritorious improvements 
become more known, they will be gradually 
taken advantage of by those who care to 
learn them. And even now, there can be no 
reason why players, who are sufficiently en- 
thusiastic about Whist improvements, might 
not form small coteries of their own where 
the new system might be tried after the 
American model, without interfering with the 



2l6 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 

existing club practices and rules. This would 
give the opportunity of thoroughly testing 
the system, and at the same time of endea- 
vouring to apply to it any safeguards which 
it might be found to require. 



APPENDICES 



APPENDIX A 

SOME MODEL WHIST HANDS OF 
EARLY DATE* 

(Arranged by " Cavendish " and inserted by his permission.) 

At the time the author of this work wrote, 
in 1861, suggesting the use of Model Games 
or portions of Games, for instruction in 
Whist, he was not aware of any previous 
examples of them. But later investigations 
(chiefly due to the inquiries of " Cavendish") 
have revealed some early specimens which 
are very interesting, both on historical and 
technical grounds. 

Example No. i. 

The first one comes essentially from Hoyle 
himself. It is given in the extract from the 
11 Humours of Whist," quoted in Chapter III., 
page 40, and published the very year of the 

*See remark in Chap. V., page 77. 



220 



APPENDIX A 



date of Hoyle's first book, 1743. It is an ex- 
ample of the latter portion of a hand, in which 
the game is won by a brilliant coup, in all 
probability devised and taught by him. It 
comprises the last six tricks only, but " Caven- 
dish " has ingeniously added the earlier por- 
tion, and the whole is described, with anno- 
tations, in an elegant little work called 
" Musical Whist with Living Cards " (De la 
Rue, 1891). 

The complete deal is as follows: 



Spades. 10, 9, 3. 
Hearts, 6, 4, 3, 2. 
Clubs, Kg., 10. 
Diamonds, Q., 10, 7, 6. 



Spades, Kg., Q., 

Kn., 6. 
Hearts, Kn., 9. 
Clubs, Q., 9, 2. 
Diam., A., Kn., 5, 

4. 



c 


Shuffle) 







A 




iz- 






•— j-> 






P ^v<U 






3 6 73 




Y 


<8*3 « 






O §Q 






3 3 






uCU 






cfl 


B 




w (Lurchum) 





Spades, 5, 4, 2. 
Hearts, 10, 8, 7, 
Clubs, Kg., 5, 3. 
Diam., 9, 8, 3, 2. 



Spades, A., 8, 7. 
Hearts, A., Kg., Q., 5. 
Clubs, A., 8, 7, 6, 4. 
Diam., Kg. 



Spades trumps. The 6 turned up. 

Score, 9-all (equivalent to 4-all at Short Whist or 6-all when the 
game is played seven up, as at the American League Clubs). 



appendix a 221 

The Play. 
The asterisk marks the winner of the trick. 

Trick i. 

A 6 of D. 

Y 2 

B Kg. " 

*Z A. " 

Trick 2. 

Z Kg. of Sp. 

A 3 

Y 2 

*B A " 

Trick 3. 

*B Kg. of H. 

Z. 9 

A 2 

Y 7 



(i 



Trick 4. 

*B Q.of H. 

Z Kn. " 

A 3 

Y 8 " 



222 APPENDIX A 



Trick 5. 

B A. of H. 

*Z 6 of Sp. 

A 4 of H. 

Y 10 " 

Note. — When you are not strong enough to lead a 
trump, you are weak enough to force the adversary. Clay, 
" Short Whist." A valuable maxim. 

Trick 6. 

*Z Kg. Of Sp. 

A 9 

Y 4 

B 7 



Trick 7. 

*Z Kg. of Sp. 

A 10 

Y 5 

B 8 

(Now begins the part described in the " Humours of 
Whist.") 

Trick 8. 

Z 2 of CI. 

A 10 " 

*Y Kg." 

B 4^ " 

Note. — Lurchum's play is very good. He allows Y to 
win with the Kg. of Clubs that his partner may be led up 
to. 



APPENDIX A 223 

Trick 9. 

Y..... s of CI. 

B 6 " 

*Z Q. " 

A Kn." 

Trick 10. 

Z 9 of CI. 

A 7 of D. 

Y 3 of CI. 

*B A. " 

Note. — Sir Calculation's play is very bad. At trick 9 he 
should finesse the 9 of Clubs. Not having done so, he 
should see that the Ace of Clubs is being held up against 
him, and at trick 10 should lead the 4 of Diamonds. If 
Sir Calculation finesses the Club at trick 9, then comes 
Shuffle's turn to play a good coup. Having won with the 
Knave of Clubs at trick 9, he should lead the 6 of Hearts 
at trick 10 and next the 7 of Diamonds (not the Queen). 

After this B takes the other three tricks 
with the two Clubs and the Heart, thus win- 
ning the odd trick and the game. 

It will be noticed that in the extract where 
the hand is described there are some calcula- 
tions of odds given, which look like burlesque ; 
but " Cavendish " points out that they are 
really to be found in Hoyle, though not exact- 
ly as travestied. 



224 appendix a 

Example No. 2. 

Twelve years afterwards, but still in 
Hoyle's time, there was published, in a liter- 
ary journal called The Connoisseur, for March 
20, 1755, a description of a complete game; 
and though the cards are not given, enough 
is said to enable a skilful and experienced 
reader to discover how they must lie ; and 
" Cavendish " has again successfully under- 
taken the task. 

The article in which the description is 
found is written by Colman and Thornton, its 
subject being Hoyle's Whist generally : and 
it contains a burlesque proposal that as Hoyle 
was then giving up personal teaching, a 
school should be formed where young ladies 
of quality might be instructed in the arts and 
mysteries of Whist play. The writer says : 

The science of Whist is more complex then even algebra 
or the mathematics ; the logarithms of Napier are not so 
hard to be understood as many of Hoyle's cases and prop- 
ositions ; as an instance of which take the following most 
obvious and easy one : 

Then comes the following passage, the ex- 
planatory notes in brackets being added by 
" Cavendish/' to aid the description. The 
game is at the usual " Long Whist," ten up. 



APPENDIX A 22 5 

A and B are partners against C and D. A and B have 
scored 3 and want to save their lurch {i.e., want 2 tricks 
to score five, which would prevent C and D scoring a 
double game] C and D are at " short can-ye " [i.e. score of 
8 which enables them to " call honours "] and consequently 
both sides play for two tricks. 

C has the deal and turns up the Knave of Hearts. C 
" asks," his partner, who refuses [i.e., C having two hon- 
ours asks his partner if he has one ? which would win the 
game without playing : but D has none]. B has the lead 
and runs his strong suit, Spades, two rounds, with Ace and 
King. A [has none and] discards his weakest suit, Dia- 
monds. Then B forces his partner. 

A leads a strong Club, which B refuses [having none]. 
A forces B, who, by leading Spades plays, into A's hand, 
[i.e. , gives A the lead] who returns a Club and so they get 
to a saw between them. 

After this A leads [a trump] through C's honours 
[which he knows C holds by the call] B finesses the 10, 
and plays a Spade, which A trumps. 

Now B, by laying behind C's King and Knave of trumps 
[which B knows by the call are there], makes the tenace 
with Ace and Queen, and A having the long trump brings 
in his thirteenth Club. 

Consequently A and B get a slam against their adver- 
saries C and D, and score a single game towards the 
rubber. 

" Cavendish " points out that there is some 
mistake in the last paragraph but one, but 
the general interpretation of the hand is quite 
clear, and he has furnished the following 
statement of it. It is a peculiar hand, for it 
is interesting to note that each player has 
15 



226 



APPENDIX A 



only three suits, and that to no trick do all 
the players follow suit. 

It would rather seem from the wording of 
the article that the hand emanated from 
Hoyle himself, a nd this is quite possible, 
though not proved. It is at any rate ingen- 
iously chosen, to show the skilful advantage 
taken of the position of the cards. 

The deal, as settled by " Cavendish," is as 
follows : 



Hearts, g, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3. 
Clubs, A., Kg., Q., 7, 4- 
Diam., 4, 2. 
Spades, None. 



Hearts, None. 




A 


Hearts, Kg., Kn., 2. 


Clubs, Kn., 9, 6, 2. 
Diam., A., Kg., Q., 

Kn., 10, 9, 8. 
Spades, 3. 


D 


C 

(dealer) 

(leader) 
B 


Clubs, 10, 8, 5, 3. 
Diam., None. 
Spades, Q., Kn. , 8, 
7, 5. 4. 



Hearts, A., Q., 10, 8. 

Clubs, None. 

Diam., 6, 5, 3. 

Spades, A, Kg., 10, 9, 6, 2. 



Hearts trumps — Knave turned up. 

Score (Long Whist), A, B, 3— C, D, 8. 

C (according to the Long Whist Rule) asks his partner, ''Can 
you one? " B therefore knows that King and Knave are in C's 
hand. 



APPENDIX A 227 

The following is the play, annotated by 
" Cavendish " : 

Trick 1. 

*B A. of Sp. 

D 3 " 

A 2 of D. 

C 4 of Sp. 

Trick 2. 

*B Kg. of Sp. 

D 7 of D. 

A 4 of D. 

C 5 of Sp. 

Note. — D has no trump. 

Trick 3. 

B 2 of Sp. 

D 8 of D. 

*A 3 of H. 

C 7 of Sp. 

Trick 4. 

*A A. of CI. 

C 3 " 

B 3 of D. 

D 2 of CI. 

Note. — A should lead a trump. B should not return 
it, but force again. 



228 APPENDIX A 

Trick 5. 
*A Kg. of CI. 

C 5 

B 5 of D. 

D 6 of CI. 

Trick 6. 
*A Q. of CI. 

C 8 

B 6 of D. 

D 9 of CI. 

Trick 7. 
A 4 of CI. 

C 10 " 

*B 8 of H. 

D ...Kn. of CI. 

Trick 8. 

B.... 6 of Sp. 

D qofD. 

*A 4 of H. 

C 8 of Sp. 

Trick 9. 
A 5 of H. 

C 2 " 

*B 10 " 

D 10 of D. 

Note. — Probably the coup intended by the author ; but 
it is obvious that B must play 10 of Hearts and not re- 
turn the trump, as he can count all the hands. 



APPENDIX A 229 

Trick 10. 

B Q. of Sp. 

D Kn. of D. 

*A 6 of H. 

C Kn. of Sp. 

Trick 11. 

*A 7 of CI. 

C Q. of Sp. ■ 

B 10 " 

D Q.of D. 

Note. — The author says A " brings in " his 13th Club. 
He wins with it if C refuses the force. If C trumps, B 
overtrumps and (Trick 12) leads 10 of Sp. with the same 
result. 

Trick 12. 

A Q.of H. 

C Kg. " 

*B A. " 

D Kg. of D. 

Trick 13. 

B makes Q. of H. 

Thus A B win 7 by cards and score a single. 

Example No. 3. 

A third model Whist hand was published 
in 1 79 1, two years after Hoyle's death, in an 



230 APPENDIX A 

Epic poem, " Whist," by Alexander Thom- 
son, mentioned in Chapter III. of this work, 
p. 47. This hand embodies a little story, as 
follows : 

Pusillo, before demanding the hand of Smi- 
linda, desires to ascertain whether she can 
keep her temper at cards. The opportunity 
presents itself at Whist, when Smilinda and 
he are partners against Aunt Rebecca and 
Squire Booby, In order to try his lady-love, 
Pusillo purposely omits to trump an oppo- 
nent's winning card, thereby losing the 
game. The effect of this is explained here- 
after. 

The play of the cards, as it would be seen 
by a bystander, is given in verse, of which 
the following is a specimen : 

" The Squire leads clubs, and Aunt Rebecca's queen 
Retires in triumph from the level green ; 
But when she tried the suit another round, 
Fate was not then so favourable found ; 
For scarce had Booby's king displayed his face 
'Ere seized and butchered by Pusillo'sace." 

The cards in each hand have to be made out 
from such data, and 4 ' Cavendish " has done 
this, publishing the whole hand, with annota- 
tions, in the work " Musical Whist," already 
mentioned. His remarks show that the play 
was not of a high order. 



APPENDIX A 

The deal was as follows : 

Diamonds, A., 10, 3, 2. 
Spades, Q., 7, 3. 
Hearts, 5, 3. 
Clubs, Kg. , 9, 8, 2. 



Diamonds \ Q., Kn., 

9, 7- 
Spades, Kg. , 5, 2. 
Hearts, Kn., 10, 4, 

2. 
Clubs, 6, 4. 



231 



(Young Booby.) 




A 


d" XT 


^-> 


~0 <D 





|*1 


v~ 


£ Q 


3 
a. 


w '-' 






B 


(Aunt 


Rebecca.) 



Diamonds, Kn., 4, 

3- 

Spades, 8, 4. 

Hearts, Kg., 9, 8, 

6. 
Clubs, A., Kn., 

10, 3- 



Diamonds, 8, 5. 
Spades, A., Kn., io, 9, 6. 
Hearts, A., Q., 7. 
Clubs, Q., 7. 5- 

Diamonds trumps — 9 turned up. 
Score (Long Whist), 9-all. 

Trick I. 

A 2 of CI. 

Y 3 " 

*B Q. " 

Z 4 " 

Trick 2. 
B 7 of CI. 

Z 6 " 

A Kg." 

*Y A " 

Note. — Aunt Rebecca's return of the Club, after win- 
ning with the Queen, is bad. She should have opened the 
Spade suit. But good play is not expected from her, as 



a 



u 



232 APPENDIX A 

she only sat down to " make the other pair," i.e., to make 
up the rubber. Young Booby justifies his name ; he should 
have passed the 7 of Clubs keeping the King guarded. 

Trick 3. 
*Y Kn. of CI. 

B 5 

Z 2 

A 8 

Trick 4. 

*Y 10 of CI. 

B 5 of D. 

Z 7 " 

A 9 of CI. 

Note. — It is doubtful whether Pusillo should lead to 
force his partner here ; but perhaps his play may be de- 
fended by the state of the score. 

Trick 5. 
Y Kg. of H. 

*B A. 

Z 2 

A 3 



Trick 6. 
*B p. of H. 

Z 4 " 

A 5 

Y 6 

Note. — Aunt Rebecca will not lead from her strong 
suit of Spades. She returns the opponents' suit. Her 
play is, of course, bad. 



APPENDIX A 233 

Trick 7. 

B 7 of H. 

Z 10 " 

*A 2 of D. 

Y 8 of H. 

Trick 8. 

A 3 of Sp. 

Y 4 " 

*B A. " 

Z ...5 " 

Trick 9. 

B 6 of Sp. 

*Z Kg." 

A 7 

Y 8 

Trick 10. 

Z 9 of D. 

A 3 " 

*Y Kg." 

B 8 " 

Note. — Smilinda's best lead is probably Q. of D. 

Trick 11. 

Y 6 of D. 

B 9 of Sp. 

Z Kn. of D. 

*A A. " 



234 APPENDIX A 

Trick 12. 

A Q. of Sp. 

Y 9 of H. 

B io of Sp. 

*Z Q. of D. 

Note. — Pusillo's play in not trumping the winning 
Spade is inexcusable. The poet explains it thus : 

" And now a lady rais'd to full command, 

The queen of spades, appear'd from Booby's hand. 
With but two spades Pusillo's hand begun 
And four of trumps might now the trick have won, 
And had he so inclined, his chance was sure, 
This trick to conquer and the game secure. 
But thoughts of different hue his mind engross 
His am'rous heart contemns the rubber's loss ; 
With wilful error slips the trump to play, 
And throws at one rash stroke their all away." 

Of course, Pusillo's conduct in playing 
badly on purpose, cannot be defended ; even 
if the stakes were " love " his scheme was 
contemptible. 

Trick 13. 

Z Kn. of H. 

*A 10 of D. 

Y 4 " 

B Kn. of Sp. 

Y, Z lose the odd trick and the game. 



APPENDIX A 235 

The subsequent proceedings are best told 
in the following quotation : 

" And when the falling cards the veil withdrew 
Which hid the grossness of his fault from view, 
The gentle creature could endure no more, 
She started up, she stamp'd, she raged, she swore ; 
Proclaim'd her wrong and threw the cards away, 
Nor longer in his presence deign'd to stay." 

She repented, and wrote to him, beseech- 
ing him : 

" For sweet pity's sake 
No longer to resent her rude mistake." 

But he was inexorable, replying : 

'* When cards and dice are banished from the land, 
Pusillo then will ask Smilinda's hand." 

The annotator adds : 

" And suppose Pusillo had trumped the 
Queen of Spades and that Pusillo and Smi- 
linda had married. What with Pusillo's 
meanness and Smilinda's temper, is it likely 
that the union would have turned out hap- 
pily ? Perhaps it was better as it was ! " 



APPENDIX B. 

CONSTITUTION OF THE AMERICAN 
WHIST LEAGUE. 

AS REVISED AND ADOPTED BY THE FOURTH AMERI- 
CAN WHIST CONGRESS, HELD AT PHILADEL- 
PHIA, MAY 22 TO 26, 1894. 

(Reprinted, by permission, from the Official Proceedings.) 

Article I. 

NAME. 

Section i. This organization shall be 
known as the " American Whist League." 

Article II. 

MEMBERSHIP. 

Section 1. The following clubs shall con- 
stitute the charter membership of said 
League ; viz. : 

(Here follows a list of twenty-five clubs.) 

Sec. 2. All members of said League must 
assent to this Constitution, and adopt as their 



APPENDIX B 237 

standard the Code of Laws promulgated by 
said League ; provided, however, that League 
clubs may adopt any rule requiring or per- 
mitting methods of scoring or of forming the 
table different from those prescribed in said 
laws. 

Sec. 3. Any organized Whist Club, or 
other club at which the play of Whist is a 
prominent feature, may, with the approval 
of the Executive Committee, hereinafter pro- 
vided for, become a member of said League 
on complying with the provisions of the pre- 
ceding section. 

Sec. 4. Every club belonging to said 
League shall pay to the Treasurer, herein- 
after provided for, an annual fee of Ten Dol- 
lars. 

Sec. 5. Individual Whist players may be 
admitted as Associate Members by vote of 
the Executive Committee, hereinafter pro- 
vided for ; — each associate member shall pay 
to the Treasurer, hereinafter provided for, an 
annual fee of Two Dollars. Associate mem- 
bers shall have the rights of delegates at An- 
nual Meetings so far only as to permit them 
to speak, make motions, serve on committees, 
participate in contests for individuals, and in 
all deliberations of said League. 

Sec. 6. Individual Whist players, on nom- 

ation by the Executive Committee, may be 



238 APPENDIX B 

made Honorary Members of said League by 
the unanimous vote of any meeting of said 
League. Such members shall not be liable 
for any fee, nor shall they be eligible to 
office or privileged to vote at any meeting of 
said League unless they are members of a 
club belonging to said League. 

Sec. 7. If the annual fee of any member 
or associate member remains unpaid for one 
year, subsequent to any meeting of said 
League, the Executive Committee, herein- 
after provided for, shall have power to sus- 
pend such member, after having given thirty 
days' notice of their intention. Such mem- 
ber is subject to expulsion at the next meet- 
ing of said League by a two-thirds vote of the 
members present. 

Article III. 

GENERAL OFFICERS. 

Section i. The General Officers of the 
League shall consist of a President, a Vice- 
President, a Treasurer, a Recording Secre- 
tary, and a Corresponding Secretary. 

Sec. 2. The General Officers shall be elect- 
ed at the Annual Congresses hereinafter pro- 
vided for, and shall hold office for one year, 
and until their successors are elected. 



APPENDIX B 239 

Sec. 3. Vacancies occurring in the list of 
General Officers during any interim between 
Congresses, may be filled by the Executive 
Committee until the next Annual Congress. 

Sec. 4. The President shall preside at all 
meetings of the League and of the Executive 
Committee, and shall be ex officio a member 
of all committees. At the end of his term of 
office he shall become ex officio a member of 
the Executive Committee and shall remain a 
member thereof as long as he shall continue 
an active member of a club belonging to the 
League. 

Sec. 5. The Vice-President shall perform 
the duties of the President in the absence of 
the President. 

Sec. 6. The Treasurer shall have charge 
of all funds of the League, subject to the 
direction of the Executive Committee. 

Sec. 7. The Recording Secretary shall 
keep full records of all meetings of the 
League and of the Executive Committee, 
and shall perform such other duties as the 
Executive Committee shall, from time to 
time, direct. 

Sec. 8. The Corresponding Secretary shall 
have charge of all correspondence between 
the Executive Committee and members of 
the League ; shall preserve copies of all offi- 
cial letters he writes, and all correspondence 



240 APPENDIX B 

he receives, and shall perform such other 
duties as the Executive Committee shall 
from time to time direct. 



Article IV. 

DIRECTORS. 

Section i. There shall be elected by the 
League as hereinafter set forth, a Board of 
Directors which shall not be less than twelve 
in number, which number may at any time 
be increased by any multiple of three. 

Sec. 2. The Directors chosen at the Annual 
Congress of 1894, shall, at the first meeting 
of the Executive Committee after such elec- 
tion, be divided by lot into three classes ; of 
whom the first class shall hold office until 
the election of Directors at the Annual Con- 
gress of 1895 ; the second class shall hold 
office until such election at the Annual Con- 
gress of 1896, and the third class shall hold 
office until such election at the Annual Con- 
gress of 1897. 

Sec. 3. The Directors chosen at each Con- 
gress, subsequent to that of 1894, shall hold 
office until the election of Directors at the 
Congress of the third year, subsequent to 
their election, except in case of Directors 
elected to fill a vacancy, and also except as 



APPENDIX B 241 

hereinafter provided in case of an increase in 
the membership of the Board. 

Sec. 4. In case a vacancy occurs in the 
Board of Directors, the Executive Committee 
may fill the same until the next Annual Con- 
gress, at which time a Director shall be 
chosen for the balance of the unexpired term, 
if any. 

Sec. 5. In case the number of the Board of 
Directors shall be increased at any Annual 
Congress, the additional Directors shall be 
divided into three classes to serve for one, 
two, and three years, respectively, so that the 
three classes of Directors shall be maintained 
of equal numbers. 

Article V. 
Executive Committee. 

Section i. The General Officers, the 
Board of Directors, and such Ex-Presidents 
as continue to be active members of clubs 
belonging to the League, shall together con- 
stitute an Executive Committee, or Board of 
Government. 

Sec. 2. The Executive Committee shall 

have full control and management of the 

business of the League, and the title to all 

League property is hereby vested in them. 

16 



242 APPENDIX B 

They shall be subject, however, at all times 
to the will of the League as expressed by a 
vote of any Congress or meeting of the 
League. 

Sec. 3. Five members of the Executive 
Committee shall constitute a quorum for the 
transaction of business. 

Article VI. 

MEETINGS OF THE LEAGUE. 

Section i. There shall be held annually, 
at such time and place as the Executive 
Committee shall appoint, a meeting of the 
League, to be known as an American Whist 
Congress. 

Sec. 2. At all such Congresses, each club 
belonging to the League shall be entitled to 
send as many delegates as it desires ; but 
each delegation shall be entitled to but one 
vote, which shall be cast by a majority of the 
delegation present at the time when the vote 
is taken. No club shall be entitled to send 
any person as a delegate who is not a mem- 
ber of such club, and no person shall repre- 
sent more than one club. 

Sec. 3. At any Congress or other meeting 
of the League a vote shall be taken by clubs 
at the request of the delegations represent- 
ing any three clubs. 



APPENDIX B 243 

Article VII. 

AMENDMENTS. 

Section i. Propositions to amend the 
code of Laws or to amend this Constitution, 
may be made in writing at any meeting of 
the League, but it shall require a vote of 
three-fourths of the number present to adopt 
such amendment. 

Sec. 2. Amendments to the code of laws 
shall go into effect sixty days after the ad- 
journment of the meeting of the League at 
which they are adopted. 



OFFICERS OF THE AMERICAN 
WHIST LEAGUE, 1894-95. 

PRESIDENT. 

John M. Walton, 
4205 Chester Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa. 

vice-president. 

Theodore Schwarz, 

6 and 8 Sherman Street, Chicago, 111. 

TREASURER. 

Benjamin L. Richards, 
Rock Rapids, Iowa. 



44 APPENDIX B 

RECORDING SECRETARY. 

Walter H. Barney, 
Industrial Trust Company Building, Providence, R. I, 

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY. 

Robert H. Weems, 
220 Lincoln Place, Brooklyn, N. Y. 

EX-PRESIDENT. 

Eugene S. Elliott, 
Pabst Building, Milwaukee, Wis. 

DIRECTORS. 
Term Expi?-es iSqy. 

J. H. Briggs, 

Minneapolis Chess, Checker and Whist Club, 

Minneapolis, Minn. 

H. A. Mandell, 
40 Buhl Block, Detroit, Mich. 

E. Leroy Smith, 
619 Broadway, Albany, N. Y. 

P. J. TORMEY, 

220 Sutter Street, San Francisco, Cal. 

Term Expires i8gb. 

Charles E. Coffin, 
90 East Market Street, Indianapolis, Ind. 

C. D. P. Hamilton, 
Easton, Pa. 

A. G. Safford, 
141 6 F Street, Washington, D. C. 

Nicholas B. Trist, 
162 Common Street, New Orleans, La. 



APPENDIX B 245 

Term Expires iSgj. 

George H. Fish, 
37 Union Square, New York, N. Y. 

B. D. Kribben, 
Bank of Commerce Building, St. Louis, Mo. 

George W. Morse, 
28 State Street, Boston, Mass. 

E. H. Shepard, 
Portland, Ore, 



APPENDIX C. 
THE AMERICAN LAWS OF WHIST, 

AS REVISED AND ADOPTED BY THE AMERICAN 
WHIST LEAGUE AT THEIR THIRD CONGRESS, 
CHICAGO, JUNE, 1893. 

(Reprinted, by permission, from the Official Proceedings of the 

Congress.) 

THE GAME. 

1. A game consists of seven points, each trick above 
six counting one. The value of the game is determined 
by deducting the losers' score from seven. 

FORMING THE TABLE. 

2. Those first in the room have the preference. If, by 
reason of two or more arriving at the same time, more 
than four assemble, the preference among the last comers 
is determined by cutting, a lower cut giving the preference 
over all cutting higher. A complete table consists of six ; 
the four having the preference play. Partners are deter- 
mined by cutting : the highest two play against the lowest 
two ; the lowest deals and has the choice of seats and 
cards. 

3. If two players cut intermediate cards of equal value, 



APPENDIX C 247 

they cut again, and the lower of the new cut plays with 
the original lowest. 

4. If three players cut cards of equal value, they cut 
again. If the fourth has cut the highest card, the lowest 
two of the new cut are partners, and the lowest deals. 
If the fourth has cut the lowest card, he deals, and the 
highest two of the new cut are partners. 

5. At the end of a game, if there are more than four 
belonging to the table, a sufficient number of the players 
retire to admit those awaiting their turn to play. In de- 
termining which players remain in, those who have played 
a less number of consecutive games have the preference 
over all who have played a greater number ; between two 
or more who have played an equal number, the preference 
is determined by cutting, a lower cut giving the preference 
over all cutting higher. 

6. To entitle one to enter a table, he must declare his 
intention to do so before any one of the players has cut 
for the purpose of commencing a new game or of cutting 
out. 

CUTTING. 

7. In cutting, the ace is the lowest card. All must cut 
from the same pack. If a player exposes more than one 
card, he must cut again. Drawing cards from the out- 
spread pack may be resorted to in place of cutting. 

SHUFFLING. 

8. Before every deal, the cards must be shuffled. 
When two packs are used, the dealer's partner must col- 
lect and shuffle the cards for the ensuing deal, and place 
them at his right hand. In all cases the dealer may shuf- 
fle last. 

9. A pack must not be shuffled during the play of a 
hand, nor so as to expose the face of any card. 



248 APPENDIX C 



CUTTING TO THE DEALER. 

10. The dealer must present the pack to his right-hand 
adversary to be cut ; the adversary must take a por- 
tion from the top of the pack and place it towards the 
dealer ; at least four cards must be left in each packet ; 
the dealer must reunite the packets by placing the one not 
removed in cutting upon the other. 

11. If, in cutting or in reuniting the separate packets, a 
card is exposed, the pack must be reshuffled by the dealer 
and cut again ; if there is any confusion of the cards, or 
doubt as to where the pack was separated, there must be 
a new cut. 

12. If the dealer reshuffles the pack after it has been 
properly cut, he loses his deal. 

DEALING. 

13. When the pack has been properly cut and reunited, 
the dealer must distribute the cards, one at a time to each 
player in regular rotation, beginning at his left. The last, 
which is the trump card, must be turned up before the 
dealer. At the end of the hand, or when the deal is lost, 
the deal passes to the player next to the dealer on his left, 
and so on to each in turn. 

14. There must be a new deal by the same dealer : — 

I. If any card except the last is faced in the pack. 

II. If, during the deal or during the play of the hand, 
the pack is proved incorrect or imperfect ; but any prior 
score made with that pack shall stand. 

15. If, during the deal, a card is exposed, the side not 
in fault may demand a new deal, provided neither of that 
side has touched a card. If a new deal does not take 
place, the exposed card is not liable to be called. 

16. Any one dealing out of turn, or with his adversaries' 



APPENDIX C 249 

cards, may be stopped before the trump card is turned, after 
which the deal is valid, and the cards, if changed, so re- 
main. 

MISDEALING. 

17. It is a misdeal : — 

I. If the dealer omits to have the pack cut, and his ad- 
versaries discover the error before the trump card is 
turned, and before looking at any of their cards. 

II. If he deals a card incorrectly and fails to correct the 
error before dealing another. 

III. If he counts the cards on the table or in the re- 
mainder of the pack. 

IV. If, having a perfect pack, he does not deal to each 
player the proper number of cards, and the error is dis- 
covered before all have played to the first trick. 

V. If he looks at the trump card before the deal is com- 
pleted. 

VI. If he places the trump card face downwards upon 
his own or any other player's cards. 

A misdeal loses the deal, unless during the deal either 
of the adversaries touches a card or in any other manner 
interrupts the dealer. 



THE TRUMP CARD. 

18. The dealer must leave the trump card face upwards 
on the table until it is his turn to play to the first trick. If 
it is left on the table until after the second trick has been 
turned and quitted, it is liable to be called. After it has 
been lawfully taken up, it must not be named, and any 
player naming it is liable to have his highest or his lowest 
trump called by either adversary. A player may, however, 
ask what the trump suit is. 



250 APPENDIX C 



IRREGULARITIES IN THE HANDS. 

19. If, at any time after all have played to the first trick, 
the pack being perfect, a player is found to have either 
more or less than his correct number of cards, and his ad- 
versaries have their right number, the latter, upon the dis- 
covery of such surplus or deficiency, may consult and shall 
have the choice : — 

I. To have a new deal ; or 

II. To have the hand played out ; in which case the 
surplus or missing card or cards are not taken into ac- 
count. 

If either of the adversaries also has more or less than 
his correct number, there must be a new deal. 

I. any player has a surplus card, by reason of an omis- 
sion to play to a trick, his adversaries can exercise the 
foregoing privilege only after he has played to the trick 
following the one in which such omission occurred. 



CARDS LIABLE TO BE CALLED. 

20. The following cards are liable to be called by either 
adversary : — 

I. Every card faced upon the table otherwise than in 
the regular course of play, but not including a card led out 
of turn. 

II. Every card thrown with the one led or played to the 
current trick. The player must indicate the one led or 
played. 

III. Every card so held by a player that his partner sees 
any portion of its face. 

IV. All the cards in a hand lowered or shown by a 
player so that his partner sees more than one card of it. 

V. Every card named by the player holding it. 



APPENDIX C 251 

21. All cards liable to be called must be placed and left 
face upwards on the table. A player must lead or play 
them when they are called, provided he can do so without 
revoking. The call may be repeated at each trick until 
the card is played. A player cannot be prevented from 
leading or playing a card liable to be called ; if he can get 
rid of it in the course of play, no penalty remains. 

22. If a player leads a card better than any of his ad- 
versaries hold of the suit, and then leads one or more 
other cards without waiting for his partner to play, the 
latter may be called upon by either adversary to take the 
first trick, and the other cards thus improperly played are 
liable to be called ; it makes no difference whether he 
plays them one after the other or throws them all on the 
table together ; after the first card is played, the others are 
liable to be called. 

23. A player having a card liable to be called must not 
play another until the adversaries have stated whether or 
not they wish to call the card liable to the penalty. If he 
plays another card without awaiting the decision of the 
adversaries, such other card also is liable to be called. 



LEADING OUT OF TURN. 

24. If any player leads out of turn, a suit may be called 
from him or his partner the first time it is the turn of 
either of them to lead. The penalty can be enforced only 
by the adversary on the right of the player from whom a 
suit can lawfully be called. 

If a player, so called on to lead a suit, has none of it, 
or if all have played to the false lead, no penalty can be 
enforced. If all have not played to the trick, the cards 
erroneously played to such false lead are not liable to be 
called, and must be taken back. 



252 APPENDIX C 



PLAYING OUT OF TURN. 

25. If the third hand plays before the second, the fourth 
hand may also play before the second. 

26. If the third hand has not played, and the fourth 
hand plays before the second, the latter may be called 
upon by the third hand to play his highest or lowest card 
of the suit led, or if he has none, to trump or not to trump 
the trick. 

ABANDONED HANDS. 

27. If all four players throw their cards on the table, 
face upwards, no further play of that hand is permitted. 
The result of the hand, as then claimed or admitted, is 
established, provided that, if a revoke is discovered, the 
revoke penalty attaches. 



REVOKING. 

28. A revoke is a renounce in error, not corrected in 
time. A player renounces in error, when, holding one or 
more cards of the suit led, he plays a card of a different 
suit. 

A renounce in error may be corrected by the player 
making it, before the trick in which it occurs has been 
turned and quitted, unless either he or his partner, whether 
in his right turn or otherwise, has led or played to the fol- 
lowing trick, or unless his partner has asked whether or 
not he has any of the suit renounced. 

29. If a player corrects his mistake in time to save a 
revoke, the card improperly played by him is liable to be 
called ; any player or players, who have played after him, 
may withdraw their cards and substitute others ; the cards 
so withdrawn are not liable to be called. 



APPENDIX C 253 

30. The penalty for revoking is the transfer of two 
tricks from the revoking side to their adversaries ; it can 
be enforced for as many revokes as occur during the 
hand. The revoking side cannot win the game in that 
hand ; if both sides revoke, neither can win the game in 
that hand. 

31. The revoking player and his partner may require the 
hand, in which, the revoke has been made, to be played out, 
and score all points made by them up to the score of six. 

32. At the end of a hand, the claimants of a revoke 
may search all the tricks. If the cards have been mixed, 
the claim may be urged and proved if possible ; but no 
proof is necessary, and the revoke is established, if, after 
it has been claimed, the accused player or his partner 
mixes the cards before they have been examined to the 
satisfaction of the adversaries. 

33. The revoke can be claimed at any time before the 
cards have been presented and cut for the following deal, 
but not thereafter. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 

34. Any one, during the play of a trick and before the 
cards have been touched for the purpose, of gathering 
them together, may demand that the players draw their 
cards. 

35. If any one, prior to his partner playing, calls atten- 
tion in any manner to the trick or to the score, the ad^ 
versary last to play to the trick may require the offender's 
partner to play his highest or lowest of the suit led, or, if 
he has none, to trump or not to trump the trick. 

36. If any player says " I can win the rest," " The rest 
are ours," " We have the game," or words to that effect, 
his partner's cards must be laid upon the table, and are 
liable to be called. 



254 APPENDIX C 

37. When a trick has been turned and quitted, it must 
not again be seen until after the hand has been played. 
A violation of this law subjects the offender's side to the 
same penalty as in case of a lead out of turn. 

38. If a player is lawfully called upon to play the high- 
est or lowest of a suit, or to trump or not to trump a 
trick, or to lead a suit, and unnecessarily fails to comply, 
he is liable to the same penalty as if he had revoked. 

39. In all cases where a penalty has been incurred, 
the offender must await the decision of the adversaries. 
If either of them, with or without his partner's consent, 
demands a penalty to which they are entitled, such deci- 
sion is final. If the wrong adversary demands a penalty, 
or a wrong penalty is demanded, none can be enforced. 

40. League clubs may adopt any rule requiring or per- 
mitting methods of scoring or of forming the table, differ- 
ent from those above prescribed. 



THE ETIQUETTE OF WHIST, 

AS ADOPTED BY THE THIRD AMERICAN WHIST 
CONGRESS, CHICAGO, JUNE 20-24, 1893. 

The following rules belong to the established Code of 
Whist Etiquette. They are formulated with a view to 
discourage and repress certain improprieties of conduct 
therein pointed out, which are not reached by the laws. 
The courtesy which marks the intercourse of gentlemen 
will regulate other more obvious cases. 

I. No conversation should be indulged in during the 
play except such as is allowed by the laws of the game. 

II. No player should in any manner whatsoever give 



APPENDIX C 255 

any intimation as to the state of his hand or of the game, 
or of approval or disapproval of a play. 

III. No player should lead until the preceding trick is 
turned and quitted. 

IV. No player should, after having led a winning card, 
draw a card from his hand for another lead until his part- 
ner has played to the current trick. 

V. No player should play a card in any manner so as 
to call particular attention to it, nor should he demand 
that the card be placed in order to attract the attention of 
his partner. 

VI. No player should purposely incur a penalty because 
he is willing to pay it, nor should he make a second revoke 
in order to conceal one previously made. 

VII. No player should take advantage of information 
imparted by his partner through a breach of etiquette. 

VIII. No player should object to referring a disputed 
question of fact to a bystander, who professes himself un- 
interested in the result of the game and able to decide the 
question. 

IX. Bystanders should not in any manner call attention 
to or give any intimation concerning the play or the state 
of the game, during the play of a hand. They should not 
look over the hand of a player without his permission, nor 
should they walk around the table to look at the different 
hands. 



It will be seen, by comparing the above 
Code of Laws with the English one, that 
they have been much reduced in number, and 
have at the same time been made more ex- 
plicit on doubtful points. The scoring is 
altered (as explained on page 154) giving the 



256 APPENDIX C 

" Straight Whist " only. Some of the penal- 
ties have been slightly changed ; the last 
turned trick is forbidden to be looked at, and 
some attempts are made to promote silence 
during play. The English custom of allow- 
ing the partner of a renouncing player to 
ask if he has any more of this suit, has been 
abolished in America, after much discussion. 



APPENDIX D. 

EXAMPLES OF MATCHES PLAYED 
IN DUPLICATE AT AMERICAN 
WHIST TOURNAMENTS. 



(Extracted, by permission, from the Milwaukee " Whist " Journal, 

August, 1892.) 



NO. I. 

Match for the Hamilton Whist 
Trophy, Played at the Second Con- 
gress of the American Whist League. 

Interest in the games of the Congress centred in the 
great match for the trophy offered to the League by the 
Hamilton Club of Philadelphia. 

The sub-committee of the Executive Committee, to 
whom the arrangement of these battles had been referred, 
had been unable, on account of several various circum- 
stances, to have a meeting so as to come to any agree- 
ment before the preliminary meeting of the Executive 
Committee, held the week prior to the opening session of 
the Congress, and then when the Executive Committee 
had decided upon a plan no one was disposed to give it a 
full indorsement. Under the plan as adopted it was ar- 
ranged that the clubs entering the contest should be drawn 
17 



258 APPENDIX D 

to play twenty-four hands with some other club, and at 
the expiration of such play a re-drawing should be had 
for another match of twenty-four hands. It was provided 
that the club losing two of such matches should fall out 
of the contest. It is easy to see that under such rules no 
adequate decision could be made of the competency and 
skill of the various contestants, but in the absence of that 
experience which is the most competent teacher of the 
exact number of teams that would enter the struggle, it is 
probable that the plan adopted was as satisfactory as any 
that could have been devised within the limited time al- 
lowed. 

At the opening match, although twenty-two teams had 
signified their intention of entering the contest, only six- 
teen were actually at hand. The contest opened Tuesday 
evening, July 19. Teams began dropping out under the 
rules by the evening of the following day, so that by Fri- 
day evening the number of contestants was reduced to 
the Milwaukee, which had not, at that time, lost a match ; 
to the Hamilton Club, which had lost one match, and the 
Capital Bicycle Club, which had lost one match. The two 
latter clubs were drawn to play against each other Friday 
evening, the Milwaukee Club standing by. The struggle 
between the Capital Bicycles and the Hamiltons was ex- 
ceedingly interesting, and the play reflected great credit 
upon both clubs, but resulted in favor of the Capital Bi- 
cycles, who were then appointed to play against the Mil- 
waukee on Saturday morning. 

At the completion of the play of twenty-four hands be- 
tween these two clubs the score stood tied, whereupon a 
second match of sixteen hands was arranged, which also 
tied ; this tie was played off in eight hands, resulting 
favorably to the Capital Bicycles by one point, which club 
had now lost one match, and under the rules w r ere obliged 
to enter a second and deciding fight against each other ; 



APPENDIX D 259 

but the long contention and struggle had completely ex- 
hausted the members of the Milwaukee team, some of 
whom had begun the fight in poor physical condition and 
protested against being obliged to enter another the same 
evening. On the other hand, the Capital Bicycles men 
were obliged to return to Washington, so that it was im- 
possible to arrange a meeting the following Monday. 
Under these circumstances, the two clubs united in a re- 
quest to the Executive Committee proposing that the de- 
ciding game be played on the first day of the Third Whist 
Congress, and giving the custody of the trophy for the 
first six months to the Capital Club, and for the remainder 
of the time before the meeting of the Third Congress to 
the Milwaukee Club. 

Under the circumstances, this was a very fortunate dis- 
position of the matter ; the two clubs had made a heroic 
fight and it would have been cruel to have forced the one 
to have gone into the concluding contest in an exhausted 
condition after seven hours' continuous play, and equally 
cruel to force its antagonist into a defeat by reason of in- 
ability to attend at a deferred time. At present both clubs 
stand upon an equal footing as regards the trophy, and 
both have equal interests in it and will be given its cus- 
tody for a reasonable length of time, and both will be 
obliged to maintain their rights before the beginning of 
the Third Congress. The custody of the trophy for the 
first six months was conceded by the Milwaukee Club to 
the Capitals voluntarily, for the reason that it was thought 
that the interest awakened in the game by this match 
would be directed to the material advantage of the Capital 
Club, if that club was to be allowed to hold the cup while 
such interest was at its height. 

The table on the following page gives the record of the 
clubs participating in the match for the Hamilton Club 
Trophy : 



260 



APPENDIX D 



CLUBS. 


< 


6 

>< 

u 

n 

"3. 

a 
U 


c 

« 

u 

33 

u 

6 


1 
.s 

p 

>> 

u 
-J 

u 


6 

be 

u 

IS 

u 

4 
7 


E 

3 

5 

1 


G 



6 
3 
U 
_ 


O 
O 

12 


c 



1 

9 


'3 
c 

i 


1/ 
-J 
^£ 

'^ 

i 


c 

bl 

- 

z 


u 

'> 
o 

•- 

4 


d 

PL, 
■/. 

.. 

4, 


"3 

■j 
> 

'3 

5 


= 

8 

i 

4 


ill 

.5 B 

3 

& 'J 


Amrita, Poughkeepsie, N. Y 


17 1 
39 6 


Carleton, Brooklyn, N. Y 

Cherry Diamond, New York 






4 i 
i i 
o o 


Columbia Athletic, Washington, D.C. 
Commonwealth, Worcester^ Mass 








4 


- 




5 
3 

8 


II 


i 

10 
2 


6 

7 

2 


i 


8 


:: 

- 


3 
7 

2 


9 

7 

* 

10 
2 


3 
7 

2 


o o 
o o 

5 2 




z 




9 


27 4 

O O 

27 5 


Mmheim, Philadelphia 


Narragansett, Providence, R. I 

Providence, Providence, R. I 

St. Paul, St. Paul, Minn 








I 




i 

6 
7 

2 


3 i 

7 2 

4 2 




10 

II 

2 


i 
.. 

1 

i 


15 

2 


5 

2 


ii 

2 


17 3 


Wilmington, Wilmington, Del 


17 5 


O O 




1 

























[The details of each item of the foregoing General Table 
are given in 32 additional elaborate Tables, of which it 
must suffice to give the two following, as specimens.] 

HAMILTON VS. CARLETON. 
Table I. 



Work & Ballard 
Work & Remak 
Remak & Ballard 

Remak & Townsend 
Ballard & Townsend 
Work & Townsend 



Deals 1-8. 
vs. 


Van Vleck & Clement. 


Deals 9-16. 
vs. 


Bailey & Clement. 


Deals 17-24. 

vs. 


Bailey & Van Vleck. 


Table 11. 




Deals 1-8. 

vs. 


Bailey & Weems. 


Deals 9-16. 
vs. 


Van Vleck & Weems. 


Deals 17-24. 
vs. 


Clement & Weems. 



APPENDIX D 



26l 



Tab. 1. 


Tab. 2. 


Gain. 


Deal. 


Tab. 1. 


Tab. 2. 


Gain 


12 


3 


2 


. I 


I 


10 




8 


7 


2 


. 2 


5 


6 




6 


7 




. 3.... 


7 


6 




6 


8 


I 


. 4-... 


7 


5 




8 


S 





. 5 . . . . 


5 


8 




6 


9 


2 


. 6.... 


7 


4 




8 


5 





. 7.... 


5 


8 




4 


8 





. 8.... 


9 


5 


I 


6 


6 


. . . 


. 9.... 


7 


7 


I 


4 


8 





.10 


9 


5 


I 


9 


6 


2 


.11 


4 


7 




6 


9 


2 


.12 


7 


4 




9 


3 





.13.... 


4 


10 


I 


2 


11 





.14.... 


11 


2 




6 


10 


3 ... 


.15.... 


7 


3 




5 


7 





.16.... 


8 


6 




8 


7 


2 


.17.... 


5 


6 




7 


7 


1 


.18.... 


6 


6 




1 


11 




.19..-. 


12 


2 


I 


7 


-4 





20 ... . 


6 


9 


2 


6 


9 


2 


.21 


7 


4- 




5 


8 




.22 


8 


5 




6 


7 





•?3- •• 


7 


6 




7 


4 





.24.... 


6 


9 


2 



19 



Net gain for Hamilton, 9 tricks. 



MANHEIM VS. PROVIDENCE. 
Table I. 



10 



Banks & Hawley 



Banks & Borda 



Banks & Newhall 



Deals 1-8, 

vs. 



Deals 17-24. 
vs. 



Calder & Bowen. 



Deals 9-16. 

vs. Falkenburg & Bowen. 



Bowen & Morse. 



262 



APPENDIX D 





Table II. 




Deals 1-8. 


Ncwhall & Borda 


vs. 




Deals 9-16. 


Newhall & Hawley 


vs. 




Deals 17-24. 


Hawley & Borda 


vs. ( 



Morse & Falkenburg. 



C alder & Morse. 



Calder & Falkenburg. 



Tab. 1. 


Tab. 2. 


Gain. 


Deal. 


Tab. 1. 


Tab. 2. 


Gain 


7 


6 




I . 


6 


7 




6 


6 




... 2. 


7 


7 




IO 


3 




... 3- 


3 


10 




9 


3 




... 4. 


4 


10 




6 


6 




... 5- 


7 


7 




7 


7 


I 


... 6. 


6 


6 




7 


7 


I 


... 7. 


6 


6 




11 


3 


I 


... 8. 


2 


10 


•• 


9 


3 




... 9- 


4 


10 




5 


7 




. . .10 . 


8 


6 




6 


7 




... 11 . 


7 


6 




8 


4 




. . 12 . 


5 


9 




9 


3 




...13- 


4 


10 




10 


3 




. . .14. 


3 


10 




7 


5 




...15. 


6 


8 




4 


9 




...16. 


9 


4 


•• 


7 


4 




...17. 


6 


9 


2 


7 


7 


I 


...iS. 


6 


6 




5 


7 




...19 


8 


6 




10 


2 




. . .20. 


3 


11 




9 


4 




. . .21 


4 


9 




8 


7 


2 


. . .22 . 


5 


6 




3 


10 




...23. 


10 


3 




6 


7 




...24. 


7 


6 





12 



Net gain for Providence, 6 tricks. 



APPENDIX D 



263 



NO. 2. 

A Personal Match Between Ladies and 
Gentlemen, Played at a Tourna- 
ment OF THE BARABOO WHIST CLUB. 

COPY OF THE SCORE SHEET. 



Mr. E. G. Marriott ) 

Mrs. E. G. Marriott f 

Mr. M. H. Mould ) 

Mrs. M. H. Mould )' 

Mr. Sim. Mould | 

Mrs. Sim. Mould ) 

Mr. H . Grotophorst | 

Mrs. H. Grotophorst j 

Mr. R. D. Evans J 

Mrs. R. D. Evans ) 

Mr. A. F. Reiner ) 

Miss M .L. Drown ) 

Mr. E. P. McFetndge ( 

Miss K. M. Potter ) 

Mr. W. H . McFetridge ........) 

Miss Geo. McFetridge ) 

Mr. R. J. Koch \ 

Miss M. B. Potter J 








sH 


ss 


si 




156 


156 




152 


156 


154 


154 


156 


163 


159 


151 


157 


154 


151 


157 


153 


158 



2 £ - = 
8 2 I . r> 



ss ss ss 



5s Ss ?2 ^ 

«Q «{2 IS ll 

* s • -s 3°: 

<2 pjM >o .;s 

u ,J) C !fi U ^ u ^ 

si si si si 



160 


158 


156 


156 


158 


149 




i57 


i57 


155 




ISO 


155 


162 




162 


156 


159 


146 


168 


152 


150 


158 


154 


158 


160 


157 



iS3 T 55 161 

158 155 

166 162 

i5 6 144 i54 

153 160 158 



164 15S 

..••! 163 
149 



148 
157 
158 



137 



162 



1258 
1247 

1254 
1219 



*S7% 
155% 
156& 
152% 



1262 157X 
1260' 157^ 
1243 I55X 



1226 
1263 



153* 
X57# 



The above play was for a pair of fine French opera 
glasses presented by Mr. H. M. Acott, the leading light in 
Whist circles at Baraboo, as prizes for the best records. 

The rules governing the match were that every gentle- 
man participating must be a member of the club. Each 
gentleman to choose a lady as a partner and play a sitting 
against every other couple. As the record shows, the 
prizes were won by Mr. R. J. Koch and Miss Belle Potter. 



INDEX 



America, 10, 117, 134, 150 
American Leads, 137, 139, 172, 

177, 213 
American Whist League, 6, 89, 

154, 160, 162, 168, 174, 178, 

183, 184, 236, 246 
Ames, Fisher, 169, 180 
Annals of Gaming, 25 
Anson, Hon. Geo., 87 
Antepenultimate, 133 
Antony and Cleopatra, 15 
Arbitrary Signals, 190 
Arlington Club, 88 
Attention, 207 
Austria, 49, 85 

Backgammon, 59 

Baldwin, J. Loraine, 78, 87 

Baraboo, 263 

Barrington, Hon. Daines, 21, 52 

Bath, 43, 45, 49 

Battle, Mrs., 6 

Bell's Life, 155 

Bentinck, Lord H., 120, 124 

Bezique, 77 

Bidder, Geo. P., 81 

Bilboquet, 43 

Bob Short, 59 

Boyce, Matthias, 180 

Blind Player, 164 

Blue Peter, 121, 189 

Brande's Dictionary, 28 

British Museum, 169 



Burney, Admiral, 118 
Byron, 44 

Caelebs, 107, 120 

Calculation Puzzle, Sir, 39 

Cambridge, 42, 75 

Carlyon, E. A., 120 

Cavendish, 8, 10, 13, 44, 57. 73, 
78, 79, 81, 87, 108, 123, 125, 
132, 134, 138 to 140, 143 to 
149. J 53> J 56, 160 to 166, 173 
to 176, 180, 195, 203 to 207, 
213, 214, 219, 220, 223 

Chance, 81 

Charles X. , 48 

Charta dominatrix, 16 

Cheating, 23, 24 

Chess, 59 

Chicago, 163, 246, 256 

Clay, James, 6, 10, 73, 75, 78, 79, 
87, 89, 119, 122, 128, 132, 133, 
134, 190, 203, 211, 222 

Clubs, London, 49 

Clubs, American, 153, 159, 175 

Coeckelbergle - Dutzele, Ritter, 

83. 85 

Coffin, Chas. , 170, 180 

Coleman, 224 

Columbia, 164 

Combination of hands, 80, 81 

Communication between part- 
ners, 100 

Complete Gamester, 19 



266 



INDEX 



Congresses, 161 to 165, 168, 174, 

183, 236 to 246, 257 
Connoisseur, The, 224 
Conservative feeling, 213 
Contracts of Hazard, 101 
Conventional extensions, 125, 

126 
Conventionalities, 193 
Conventions, 145 
Conversation of Whist, 145, 146 
Cotgrave, 16 
Cotton, Chas., 19, 21, 24 
Coup, 220, 228 

Crown Coffee House, 35, 52, 92 
Curtains, 25 
Customs, American, 151 

Decision, 209 

Decker, 21 

De la Rue, 95, 220 

Deschapelles, 6, 48, 79, 88, 175 

Difficulties and Disputes, 175 

Dillard, H. K., 164 

Discard, 100 

Drayson, Gen., 133, 136, 163, 

206 
Duplicate Whist, 155, 164, 169, 

257 

Early History, 13 
Echo, 141, 213 
Educational aspects, 109 
Elliott, Eugene S., 162, 178, 180, 

183 
Erratic play, 108 
Errors, 210 

Ethics, 101, 128, 177, 183, 215 
Etiquette of Whist, 254 
Euchre, 174 
Evolution, Passim 
Exclusiveness, 179 



Fall of the Cards, 55, 186 

Fenollosa, W. S. , 181 

Field, The, 81, 134, 139, 149, 153, 

156, 175 
Fielding, 22, 25 
Fittest, survival of, 13 
Folkestone, Lord, 35 
Forcing, 94 
Foster, R. F. , 156, 159, 160, 168, 

169, 180, 205 
Fourth best, 135, 136 
France, Whist in, 48 
Fraser's Magazi?ie, 86 
French derivation of Whist, 22 
Fundamental principles, 91 

Gambling, 2, 151 

Games at Cards, 77 

Gammer Gurton's Needle, 15 

Gardiner, Miss, 167 

General d'Artillerie, 83 
i Genie du Whist, 82 
! Gentlema?i s Magazine, 37 

Germ, 117, 121 

Gerold's Sohn, 8$ 

Graham's Club, 119 

Gurley, R. A., 179 

Guy de Maupassant, 43 

Hamilton, C. D. P., 171, 193, 

214 
Hamilton Whist Trophy, 164, 

257 
Hand-book of Games, 66 
Harper s Magazine, 76 
Hayward, Abraham, 87 
Hazard, 101 
Hewby, Dr., 180 
Homer, 44 

Honours, 17, 50, 151, 160 
Hoyle, Era of, 33 



INDEX 



267 



Hoyle, Book, 37, 57 

Hoyle Game, 52, 93, no, 134, 

200, 219, 224, 226 
Hoyle, 9, 10, 36, 81, 87, 95, 106, 

108, 138, 148, 166, 173, 186 
Hudibras, 19 
Humours of Whist, 39, 219 

Indifferent Cards, 137 
Inferences, 55, 103, 208 
Interjectio, 20 

Jenks, Mrs., 167 
Johnson, Dr., 1, 19, 21, 23 
Jones, Henry, 75, 76, 77, 155, 

162, 163, 164 
Jones, H. D., 89 
Josephine, 48 
Judgment, 209 

Kartensprache, 84 

Ladies and Hoyle, 43 

Ladies' Match, 263 

Lady Whist players, 112, 167 

Lamb, Charles, 6 

Latimer, 14 

Latter-day Improvements, 117, 

189, 212 
Laws, 7, 8, 59-87 
Laws, American, 162, 163, 246 
Leads, 97, 88, 143, 146 
Leads, American, see American 

Leads 
League, American Whist, see 

American 
Literature, Whist, in America, 

168 
Little Whist School, 75, 76, 77, 

92, 102, 122, 132, 155 
Logarithms, 224 



Long Suit, 54, 92, 141 
Long Whist, 39, 51, 151, 224 
Louis XV., 48 
Luck, effect of. 152 
Lurchum, 41 

Macmillari s Magazine, 77, 139 

Mann, Sir Horace, 43 

Marie Louise, 48 

Marylebone, 44 

Master Cards, 29, 30, 53 

Matches or Tournaments, 156, 

159, 161, 164, 257, 263 
Matthews, 9, 44, 63, 81, 95, 104, 

107, 108, no, 186, 204 
Maxims, 42, 171 
Memoranda, Short, 113 
Memory, Artificial, 58, 61 
Memory in Whist Play, 208 
Metternich, 49, 85 
Milton, 20 
Milwaukee, 166 

Model Games, 79, 219, 224, 229 
Mogul, 180 
Money Stakes, 214 
Mudie, 160, 169 
Musical Whist, 220, 222, 230 
Mutual understanding, 190 

Napier, 22 ,. 
Napoleon, 48, 211 
Nares, 16, 21 
Nature, Evolution in, 5, 7 
New Orleans, 134 
New York, 163 
Novelties in Whist, 127 

Observation, 207 
Odd trick, 39 
Ombre, 20, 22 
Ordinaries, 35 



268 



INDEX 



Paine, Cassius, 169, 179 
Paley, 101, 128, 187, 191 
Partnership, 30, 80, 91, 118, 179 
Payne, 9, 44, 62, 106, 108, no, 204 
Pembridge, 180 
Penultimate, 132, 133, 136, 147, 

180, 213 
Personal skill, 207 
Pertinent Maxims, 171 
Peterborough, Lord, 49 
Phases in Whist Evolution, 9 
Philadelphia, 164, 236 
Philosophical Era, 73 
Philosophical Game, 10, 13, 90, 

138, 141, 149, 160, 166, 168, 

181, 200, 202, 204 
Philosophy of Whist, 76, 81, 95, 

156 
Pioneer Club, 171 
Piping at Whisk, 24 
Piquet, 26, 59, 77 
Plain suits, 95, 97 
Pole, W. , 163 
Pope, 21, 25, 26 
Popularity of Whist, 173 
Portland Club, 75, 89, 120, 121 
Primitive Game. 9, 27, 200 
Probabilities, 66. 95 
Professional Teaching, see 

Teaching 

Quadrille, 26, 59, jj 
Quarterly Review, 13, 87,90, 112, 
166 

Rabelais, 14 

Rambler, $j 

Rape of the Lock, 26 

Rationelle Whist, Das, 83 

Returned Leads, 30, 99, 108 

Richard, B. L., 179 



Ruff, 16 



Ruff and Honours, 17, 
Ruffing, 17, 94 



20 



Saunders's Coffee House, 88 

Schiller, 84 

School, see Little Whist School 

Schwarz, Theodore, 180 

Scoring, 28, 38, 151, 162 

Second player, 99 

Self-playing Cards, 168, 205 

Sequences, 105 

Seymour, 24 

Shakespeare, 15, 20 

Sharpers, 23 

Short Memoranda, 113 

Short Whist, 49, 74, 157, 160, 

215 
Signal for Trumps, 119, 194, 195 
Signals and Signalling, 117, 176, 

189, 191, 193 
Signalkunst, 84 
Silence, 19, 20, 21 
Singleton, 30 
Skill, 31, 68, 155 
Skinner, 20 
Small Cards, 104 
Smith, Le Roy, 179 
Sound play, 206 
Spenser, 20 
St. Helena, 48 
Stevens, H. S. , 179 
Still, Bishop, 15 
Straight Whist, 154, 160 
Strategy of Whist, 169 
Students, 204 
Sub-echo, 141 
Survival of the fittest, 13 
Swabbers, 22 
Swift, 23 
System, 212 



INDEX 



269 



Talleyrand, 48 

Tatler, 42 

Taylor, Water Poet, 18 

Taylor's Motto, 18 

Teaching Whist, 37, 55, no, 
166 

Team, 158 

Tenison, Archbishop, 23 

Theory of Whist, 80 

Third hand, 100 

Thomson, Alexander, 47, 230 

Thomson (Seasons), 25 

Tormey, P. J., 179 

Tournaments, see Matches 

Tricks, 29 

Trist, N. B , 134, 135, 137, 148, 
162, 163, 176 

Triumph, La Triomphe, Trionfi, 
14^, 16 

Trump Echo, 141 

Trump Signal, see Signal 

Trumping, 29, 30, 54, see Ruff- 
ing 

Trumps, management of, 93 

Turf Club, 88 

Unblocking, 141, 142 
University Whist, 42 

V autre, Baron de, 82 
Verse, Whist Rules in, 83 



Yerstandigungsspiel, 84 
Vertebrates, 4 
Vienna, 83, 95 
Virgil, 84 

Wales, H. R. H., the Prince of, 

89 
Walpole, Horace, 43 
Wheelock, Miss, 167 
Whisk, 18, 21, 24 
Whist, a Poem, 47 
Whist a Science and an Art, 3 
Whist, essence of, 28 
Whist, developments, 139, 142, 

214 
Whist, its great variety, 3 
" Whist " Journal, 76, 119, 149, 

155, 164, 168, 173, 174, 177, 

178, 179, 193 
Whist Manual, 169 
Whist Schools, 86, see Little 

Whist School 
Whist Queen, 167 
Whist, sick, 6 
Whiston, Professor, 39 
White's, 88 
Whitfeld, 149 
W T ild, Jonathan, 22 
Work, M. C, 179, 183 

Youth, learning W r hist in, 112 



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